Doxaras Nikolaos

A painter of the Ionian Island School, and a son of the painter and art theoretician Panagiotis Doxaras. After 1715 he and his family settled in Zakynthos and then moved to Lefkada. In 1722 he went to Corfu where in 1729 he enlisted in the army of the Count M. von Schulenburg, while after the death of his father he went to Venice to study military engineering and painting. It is probable he was influenced by Giambattista Piazetta or Giovanni-Batista Tiepolo, who dominated the artistic life of the city of that period, but it is not known where he studied or with whom. He returned to Greece in 1738 and for a few years settled in Lefkada, while in 1745 he was made an officer in the state police on Corfu. He also served in Cephalonia and in 1752 settled once and for all on Zakynthos, where he remained till his death.
His most important works were the decoration of the urania (ceiling) of the church of Faneromeni in Zakynthos (1754-1762/1765) and Ayios Minas on Lefkada (1762), which were done according to western models. The urania of Ayios Minas was destroyed by fire in 1976 but was recently repainted with he help of surviving black-and-white photographs. The decoration of Faneromeni is of particular interest because instead of containing the usual representation of the Pantocrator, the Nativity, Dormition and Translation of the Virgin Mary are depicted, done in accordance with the models employed by Roman Catholic churches of the time. These representations, except for the Nativity, were destroyed by the earthquake of 1953, as were a number of prophets on the walls, which, however, it seems likely, were done by Stephanos Pasigetis, at least in their final form. Preliminary drawings for the representations are to be found at the National Gallery, while the surviving “Nativity of the Virgin Mary” is at the Zakynthos Museum.