Angelos Akotantos was born in Crete. He had a sister and two brothers; one of the latter was the famous painter Ioannis Akotantos. Much information about Angelos's life is drawn from the will he composed in 1436, in advance of a planned journey to Constantinople. The document is now housed in the State Archives of Venice. At the time of writing, Angelos was married to Eleni Marmara and they were expecting their first child. He was relatively wealthy with a significant number of possessions. Angelos enjoyed a high level of education—as demonstrated by his ability to write his own will—and owned a big and valuable library. He specified that if his child died young the books in this library should be sold and the money raised should go to charities of his choice. Alongside his painting activities, he was a chanter and teacher of music; the Venetian authorities appointed him protopsaltis (first chanter), an honorable position carrying a government salary. He was familiar with the monastic superior of Saint Phanourios at Versamonero, and the will grants the institution a sum of money to hold memorial services after his death. He also had a relationship with the monastery of Saint Catherine, leaving them an icon of
the eponymous saint. Akotantos's paintings are extremely popular and his style has been copied by many icon painters. Copies of his paintings can be found in churches and private collections all over the world namely Greece. One church that exhibits a copy of an Akotantos painting is the
Church of St. Symeon, Mytilene. They have Saint Anne with the Virgin. Akotantos was one of the most important Greek painters of the first half of the 15th century. The center of
Byzantine art was transferred from the capital of the
Constantinople to
Heraklion because of the
fall of Constantinople in 1453. He supplied icons to Greek churches and monasteries on Crete,
Patmos,
Rhodes, and elsewhere. Akotantos painted icons of
Saint Phanourios killing the dragon, similar to
Saint George, a local tradition found in the icons of the 15th century in
Crete. Many scholars believe that the famous painter Angelos who is responsible for countless paintings is actually Akotantos. He inspired countless painters and most of his work is emulated even today. ==Gallery==