ABSTRACT
The icon of the Embrace of the Apostles Peter and Paul was recently left to the Ashmolean Museum by the late J.C. Thomson. The Ashmolean icon was produced at a time when Crete was under the Venetians. The Venetian occupation of Crete started in 1211 as a consequence of the Latin conquest of Constantinople and ended in 1669 with the capture of the island by the Turks. The icons of the Cretan painters were in great demand with Orthodox monastic centres, Orthodox churches and monasteries in Crete and outside, such as Sinai, Patmos and Mount Athos, and also with Cretan and Venetian individuals. Under Venetian rule Crete was ideally situated to absorb both Eastern and Western artistic traditions. Cretan painters became acquainted also with Italian painting and with Western European art in general.
