The permanent collections at the Historical Museum of Crete have recently been enriched by a generous donation of sixty-five portable icons from the 15th to the early 20th century. This constitutes the entire personal collection of portable icons belonging to the well-known collector Zacharias Portalakis, who entrusted it to the Society of Cretan Historical Studies in May 2014. That trust has now borne fruit in the form of a pioneering exhibition venture on show in the rooms on Museum Level 1.
The icons of Zacharias Portalakis (15th-20th century)
The Zacharias Portalakis Donation
The core of the donation comprises a series of Cretan works illustrative of the course and development of the Cretan portable icon from the post-1453 era to the early 20th century. Alongside icons from Crete, the presence of others from the Ionian Islands is highly significant: as works modelled on the style and types disseminated by the Cretans, but created by Heptanese icon painters in their native land, they stand as clear evidence of our strong links with the islands where many Cretan painters found hospitable refuge after the Cretan War.
Works from the Cyclades and mainland Greece form part of the substantial set of religious artworks in the exhibition, offering visitors a rare opportunity to see them together in the same space as the portable icons from Crete and the Ionian Islands. An even rarer opportunity is afforded by the contribution of icons deriving from the Balkans and Russia, which broaden our knowledge of how the portable icon evolved in the wider Orthodox world.
Temporary exhibition: Divinity, (dis)continued
Collector Zacharias Portalakis' generous offer goes beyond his donation of portable icons. Henceforth, a series of temporary shows featuring works from his Modern Art Collection will accompany the permanent exhibition, in the adjacent room on Level 1 in the Historical Museum.
The first in the series, to be opened in tandem with the permanent exhibition, is entitled Divinity, (dis)continued. This showcases representative works from 1950 to 1990 by pioneering artists Konstantinos Parthenis, Yannis Tsarouchis, Christos Kapralos and Theodoros Stamos.
In particular, the exhibition is hosting Konstantinos Parthenis' monumental-sized Annunication-Poetry, a late work by the great master of Modern Greek art never before seen on Crete; Tsarouchis' David and The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, works from the dictatorship years, when he was living in Paris; works by the pioneering Abstract Expressionist Theodoros Stamos from his well-known Infinity Fields series; and Kapralos' sensational Pietá, a sculpture-study on the theme of Mother.