Holy Icon

Saint Spyridon, Pastel by Stamatis Skliris

Stamatis’ pastels are a unique effort among the Orthodox iconographers to evoke and elicit the byzantine artistic view through the medium of pastel. The color effect of these pastels is very close to the natural dry pigments. Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. These portrayals show that the byzantine art is not limited in its potential. Stamatis pastel crayons (from pure powdered pigments) vigorously capture various human psychological moments. The pastel medium was first mentioned by Leonardo da Vinci in 1495. During the 18th century the medium became fashionable for portrait painting, sometimes in a mixed technique with gouache.