In Thee Rejoiceth

The painter Theodoros Poulakis was one of the most productive artist of his era, with a highly distinctive character, both iconographically as stylistically. This can be explained by the fact that he was born and trained in Chania and visited Venice in his youth, where he stayed for many years. In Venice, he became familiar with the European etching production, especially the works of Flemish painters. As a result, his work demonstrates notable differences from that of the contemporary painters from Candia (Heraklion), while remaining popular in the orthodox audiences of Venice, the Ionian Islands and the Levant. His work “In Thee Rejoiceth” exhibits the originality of his stylistic approach, as the composition is arranged in three registers, whereas it was traditionally based on a central circular motif. In each zone Poulakis illustrates different phrases of the hymn with brilliant, light-toned colours that succeed to capture and transmit the atmosphere of chanting exaltation in remarkable harmony. The painting has been very well preserved and was restored and cleaned in 1975 by Photis Zachariou.