Saint John Damaskinos

The saint, almost frontal, is portrayed half-length, holding with both hands an opened scroll upon which an ode is written. Around his head he wears a turban of oriental fabric, already in use since the Byzantine era to denote his lack of a pure Byzantine origin. It is well known that the celebrated theologian and melodist were of Syrian origin, and a monk in the monastery of Saint Sabbas in Palestine. The remarkable luminosity and clarity of the colours, as well as the use of dark lines and shades to render the volume of the clothing applied with a typically Cretan technique, allows the attribution of this icon to the Cretan school of the 16th century.