Andreas Ritzos

Andreas Ritzos (1421–1492) was a Greek icon painter born in Candia, modern Heraklion, in Venetian-ruled Crete. First recorded as a painter in 1451 and documented as active until 1492, he is counted among the founding fathers of the Cretan School.

Working chiefly in the traditional maniera greca with rich gold backgrounds, he signed his icons both in Greek and as Andreas Rico de Candia, and his Ascension of Christ separates its scenes into compartments. About sixty of his works survive, shaping later Cretan masters down to El Greco; his sons and grandsons also became painters.