Stephanos Tzangarolas in the context of "Heptanese School (painting)"

Panagiotis Doxaras (Greek: Παναγιώτης Δοξαράς; 1662–1729), also known as Panayiotis Doxaras, was an author and painter. He was a prolific member of the Heptanese school. He was influenced by early members of the movement namely: Elias Moskos, Theodoros Poulakis, Stephanos Tzangarolas, Spyridon Sperantzas and Victor. The Heptanese school evolved during the Baroque period and continued into the Late Baroque or Rococo. Doxaras's son Nikolaos Doxaras continued the artistic movement into the Neoclassical era. Both Panagiotis and his son Nikolaos refined the school. The school was heavily influenced by the Venetian style. The Heptanese school also influenced Italian painting. Other artists Doxaras influenced were Nikolaos Kantounis. Panagioti's teacher was the famous painter Leos Moskos. whom he studied with while he was in Venice. Doxaras painted notable portraits of Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg. He introduced Maniera Italiana to the Heptanese school, drastically changing the style from the Maniera Greca. He is considered the father of the Greek Rococo and the Modern Greek Enlightenment in art.

The Heptanese school of painting (Greek: Επτανησιακή Σχολή, lit. 'school of the Seven Islands'; also known as the Ionian Islands school or Ionian school) succeeded the Cretan school as the leading school of Greek post-Byzantine painting after Crete fell to the Ottomans in 1669. Like the Cretan school, it combined Byzantine traditions with an increasing Western European artistic influence and also saw the first significant depiction of secular subjects. The school was based in the Ionian Islands, which were not part of Ottoman Greece, from the middle of the 17th century until the middle of the 19th century. The center of Greek art migrated urgently to the Ionian Islands but countless Greek artists were influenced by the school including the ones living throughout the Greek communities in the Ottoman Empire and elsewhere in the world.

The early Heptanese school was influenced by Flemish, French, Italian and German engravings. Artists representative of that era were Theodore Poulakis, Elias Moskos and Emmanuel Tzanes. Notable works include The Fall of Man and Jacob’s Ladder and Noah's Ark. The early 1700s were influenced by Greek painters Nikolaos Kallergis and Panagiotis Doxaras. Greek art was no longer limited to the traditional maniera greca dominant in the Cretan school but the style evolved into the Stile di pittura Ionico or stile Ionico in English Ionian style. The movement featured a mixture of brilliant artists. They took risks in creating art that escaped tradition. Some examples of paintings include: Virgin Glykofilousa, The Deposition from the Cross, and Assumption of Mary. In the 1800s the Heptanese school featured prominent portrait painters Nikolaos Kantounis, Nikolaos Koutouzis and Gerasimos Pitsamanos. Other artists of the school included Spyridon Ventouras, Efstathios Karousos, Stephanos Tzangarolas and Spyridon Sperantzas.

Theodore Poulakis (Greek: Θεόδωρος Πουλάκης; 1622–1692) was a Greek Renaissance painter and teacher. He is considered the father of the Heptanese school and one of the most prolific painters of Venetian Crete. Poulakis was a member of the Cretan school, his contemporary was Emmanuel Tzanes. Emmanuel Tzanes and Poulakis were active painters of the Cretan School until Candia, went to war with the Ottomans around 1649. Candia finally fell after twenty years of siege in 1669. Poulakis settled on the island of Corfu. Stephanos Tzangarolas was another famous painter in Corfu around the same period. Poulakis's works are likened to Andreas Pavias and Georgios Klontzas. Poulakis works exhibit qualities of the Venetian school. Over 130 of his paintings have survived and can be found all over the world.

Virgin Glykofilousa is an egg tempera painting by Andreas Karadinos. Karadinos was a Greek painter active from 1680 to 1740. He was a prominent member of the Heptanese school and a representative of the island of Kefalonia. His teacher was famous painter Stephanos Tzangarolas. Karadinos was an Archpresbyter. He was active during the Neo-Hellenikos Diafotismos and Greek Rococo period. One fresco and twenty-two of his paintings have survived. He was also a goldsmith. A unique inscription on a holy table at the church of Agios Spyridon in Kefalonia features important details about his life.

Paintings of the Virgin Mary and child Jesus were extremely common in Greek-Italian Byzantine art. A very common position of child Jesus is the glykofilousa (Virgin of the sweet kiss) or eleusa (tenderness or showing mercy) position. Famous Greek painter Angelos Akotantos created many works in the style. Karadinos follows the prototype of his teacher Stephanos Tzangarolas. Tzangarola's painting Virgin Glykofilousa with the Akathist Hymn is very similar to Karadinos's work. Historians believe that the specific style of painting evolved in the late 1500s. Tzangarola and Karadinos may have copied an existing work that was on the island of Kefalonia around their time. The original painting did not survive but historical documents name the work of art. Historians refer to it as the Venier. It was in the Monastery Fanenton.