KONTOGLU, PHOTIOS

KONTOGLU, PHOTIOS, author, iconographer (1896–1965). He was a prolific author in modern Greek, and at the same time an iconographer who argued strenuously and convincingly for a return to the ancient patterns of sacred art. His arguments, supported by numerous publications touching on the arts in general, extended to a defense of traditional, Orthodox ways of living where he had perhaps less success. He had and continues to have an unquestionable influence on other, contemporary defenders of a way of life and a theological tradition seen as threatened by the powerful, Western-oriented currents at play in modern Greek thought, politics, and behavior.