He grew up during the years of the
Greek War of Independence. His father was hanged by the
Ottoman Army near the very beginning of the war, in 1821, and he had to flee with his mother into the mountains. By 1832, he was in an orphanage, where his artistic talent was discovered by
Friedrich Thiersch, a scholar who had played a significant role in making a Bavarian prince (
Otto) the new King of Greece. Thiersch took him to Munich, where he attended the "Panhellenion", In 1844, he returned to Munich on a scholarship and was admitted to the
Academy of Fine Arts. After graduation, he spent ten years travelling throughout Europe, including a two-year stay in Greece from 1848 to 1850. At the end of his travels, he exhibited some of his works relating to the Sieges of
Messolonghi at the
Exposition Universelle. Most of these canvases were destroyed by a fire in 1929. From 1861 to 1863, he worked in
Manchester, England, painting murals at the
Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, Manchester. Four years later, he took part in a major exhibition at the in Leipzig. He painted little during the last decade of his life, due to an eye ailment. His death was due to heart disease. In his will, he left all of the works in his studio to the
University of Athens and 760
Marks to repair the roof of the
Salvatorkirche in Munich. Many of his paintings were widely distributed in the form of
lithographs. == Selected paintings from the National Gallery (Athens) ==