BAROQUE & ROCOCO

The Baroque & Rococo period, which was marked in Europe by the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, found Greece under Ottoman rule and thus effectively cut off from the artistic and intellectual trends in the rest of Europe. However, the non-Ottoman occupied regions (such as the Venetian-ruled Ionian Islands), but also the Greek communities in major European cities, were in contact with Europe’s cultural developments and became centres of Modern Greek Enlightenment. The most emblematic figure of this movement was Adamantios Korais (1748-1833), born into a merchant family in Smyrna. After studying in Amsterdam and Montpellier, he settled in Paris and played a key role in spreading the ideas of the Enlightenment to the Greek people. He edited and published works of ancient Greek authors and wrote scientific, literary, theological and political treatises. Many of his views were pivotal in shaping the identity and ideology of the newly-established Greek State. His portrait features on the coin, surrounded by ornamental motifs from iconostases of Ionian Island churches.