The Virgin Pantanassa

Andreas Ritzos was one of the most important icon painters who worked in Crete during the second half of the 15th century. He seems to have been living permanently in Candia (Heraklion), where he had his workshop, with at least three more other painters, and later on his two sons. At Candia, his clientele was of both dogmas, as can be seen from the two types of signatures he used, one in Greek and one in Latin. Only eleven signed works of Ritzos survive today, but many others are attributed to him. The attribution of an icon to Ritzos cannot be safe, since he seems to have been famous at his time, and his work must have served as a prototype not only for his contemporary artists, his sons and the members of his workshop, but for many generations of Cretan painters. The two icons of Patmos, the Christ Pantokrator and the Virgin Pantanassa, are the biggest and most imposing of his known works. The Virgin is portrayed enthroned with the Child on her lap. Christ, depicted frontally, blesses with the right hand and holds a raised scroll with his left. The throne is of Venetian style, marble-hewn, and placed on a pedestal with two steps. In addition to its carving and the renaissance cyma, the throne is adorned with inlaid red and green marbles and golden ornaments. The Virgin’s silver nimbus, patterned with an embossed floral Turco-Persian motif bears in frame the inscription; Μνήστητη Κύριε Νεοφύτου Αρχιεπισκόπου Καρπάθου (Remember me Thou Lord, Neophytos Archbishop of Karpathos), a Patmian that made many donations to the Monastery. At the height of the Virgin’s head are depicted in bust and in small scale Saint James to the left holding a closed scroll and Saint Christodoulos to the right, in a pose of veneration, wearing the ‘koukoulion’ of the monk. The modelling of the nude parts of the figures -face, hands and feet- have been executed with utmost care, according to the Palaeologan technique of lights of double width on the warm ochre flesh. The tone transitions are very soft and the contrasts between the bare parts and the undermodelling are not strong. The painter’s signature, in black capital letters is placed on the lower part of the throne: ΧΕΙΡ ΑΝΔΡΕΟΥ ΡΙΤΖΟΥ.