Nikolaos Koutouzis

Nikolaos Koutouzis, or Koutousis (Greek: Νικόλαος Κουτούζης; 17411813) was a Greek painter, poet and priest. He was part of the Heptanese School, but also a member of the Modern Greek Enlightenment in art. His teacher was the painter Nikolaos Doxaras. Koutouzis has 136 paintings attributed to him, including fifteen portraits. He was one of the last Greek painters to incorporate the Venetian style during its decline, due to the Fall of the Republic of Venice. He was the teacher of Nikolaos Kantounis, who was heavily influenced by his style.

Biography

He was born in a part of Greece that was under Venetian, rather than Ottoman control. He appears to have taken his first art lessons from Nikolaos Doxaras, who lived on Zakynthos during the 1750s. At the age of sixteen, under his direction, Koutouzis painted decorations at the Churches of Saint John of Damascus and Saint Demetrius, both of which have since been destroyed. He may have lived in Venice from 1760 to 1764, and been apprenticed to Giovanni Tiepolo. If so, he was definitely back at Zakynthos in 1766, painting the "Procession of Saint Dionysius".

He also wrote satirical poems on local affairs and scandals, Three years later, some of his accusers recanted and he was reinstated but refused to take up his duties. He died a few months later. Although he focused on religious painting, his portraits were better known during his lifetime. He also took in the occasional student, most notably Nikolaos Kantounis.

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