Religious Art, 15th-19th c.

The “Religious Art, 15th–19th c.” program is one of the longest-standing research initiatives of the Section of Neohellenic Research. It was established in 1984 under the original title “Greek Painters after the Fall of Constantinople”, within the then Center for Neohellenic Research. This project was conceived and developed under the scholarly supervision of its founder and visionary, academic Manolis Chatzidakis (1909–1998).

In 1996, Eugenia Drakopoulou (1959–2021) assumed scientific leadership, renamed it “Religious Art, 15th–19th c.”, and redefined its scope. Since then, the program has focused on reconstructing the artistic environment of the Greek and Orthodox world from the Fall of Constantinople (1453) to the formation of the Greek state (1830).

Key research areas include:

• the documentation of the biographies and artistic output of named painters (1450–1850),
• the study of relevant written sources, such as archival material, inscriptions, and painters’ signatures,
• the documentation of the organization and activity of artistic workshops,
• the comparative study of the artistic production of Greek-speaking painters in relation to European painting.

The program’s primary editorial activity remains the ongoing publication of the series Greek Painters after the Fall of Constantinople, 1453–1850, vols. I–III (1987, 1997, 2003). A fourth volume is currently in preparation by Georgia Foukaneli, long-time close collaborator of Eugenia Drakopoulou.