He was born in
Zagora, when it was still part of the
Ottoman Empire (now in
Greece). In 1780, following the
Orlov Revolt and continued Russian involvement in Greece, supporters of Greek independence were persecuted, so his family fled to
Iași, the capital of
Moldavia, which, at that time, was under control of the
Phanariots. There, he first studied art with a local painter named Nicolae. His talent attracted attention so, in 1789, with the support of
Alexander Ypsilantis,
Voivode of Wallachia, he was able to go to Vienna to enroll at the
Academy of Fine Arts. There, he studied with
Heinrich Friedrich Füger,
Johann Baptist Lampi and
Hubert Maurer. This was his first major exposure to
Western art. Later, he would successfully incorporate
perspective and
chiaroscuro into traditional icon painting. As Iași was under Russian occupation during that period, Prince
Grigory Potemkin has also been credited as being his patron. This, however, has not been verified. In 1802, he created his first known iconostasis at
Banu Church in Iași. It was commissioned by Iacob Stamati (1748-1803), the
Metropolitan of Moldavia, who was an admirer of the
Russian Enlightenment. Some of his best-known iconostases were those created for
Saint Spyridon Church in 1813, one of which depicted an episode in the life of Metropolitan , who had commissioned the work. He also created decorations for the Roman Episcopal Cathedral, at the request of , the Bishop of
Huși, and produced a few portraits of a non-religious nature; mostly of women. During his last years, he led a painting class at the
Princely Academy of Iași. ==Gallery==