“The road is full of cool springs and shady trees, the great and swollen rivers are now calm, the fruit trees are laden with their harvest, the plains are covered in fresh grass for the herds of animals, the flowers are in full bloom and the birds sing joyfully.”
Thus wrote Manuel Palaiologos in a letter describing the spring of 1407 (Epist. 45.161–208).
[*Six Byzantine Descriptions of Works of Art*, ed. P. Agapitos, Agra Publications]
This fifteenth-century description harmonizes perfectly with the blissful painterly depictions in the work of Irini Iliopoulou, which bring forth the timeless allure and majesty of nature. Her representational imagery narrates—through cheerful tones and dynamic realism, though sometimes bordering on idealized fantasy—everyday stories from the animal kingdom, transporting us into worlds that feel both familiar and otherworldly.
In these paradisiacal depictions, amid vibrant vegetation and watery landscapes, various animals of an imagined farm—ruled over by a commanding “Cat”—take center stage. Her light-filled compositions skillfully highlight the life-giving colors of the countryside, and, combined with the animals’ perpetual motion, they radiate a sense of vitality and joy.
With remarkable drawing fluency, the artist captures the physiognomy and essence of every setting and form: from sun-drenched vines and fallen dead leaves, to delicate wildflowers, diverse ecosystems, shimmering waters, mountainous, flat, and coastal terrains, to the pink flesh of pigs, the tactile materiality of fur, and the proportions and unique expressions of all living beings. Alongside the central compositions painted with a richly expressive brush, she constructs intricate yet clear visual cues, focuses on particular figures and references, and enhances the narrative dimension of her works.
Through her personal aesthetic sensibility and the distinct identity of her visual language, Iliopoulou immortalizes and plastically renders not a transcendent world, but the tangible and enchanting one we inhabit. She offers a hymn to nature and reveals to us truths and charms that we no longer enjoy, experience, or even perceive in our view of the natural world.
Louiza Karapidaki
Art Historian, AICA Member