"The priest in my village, Plikati of Ioannina, used to paint icons. I made a Virgin Mary with his help, which I later showed to my hagiography teacher Nikos Stratoulis, in Athens. When he saw it he asked me: What do you want to be, a painter or a hagiographer? I was confused; I didn't know what to answer. What if he didn’t like my answer and told me to take a hike? I told him that I wanted to become a hagiographer in order to please him. He looked at me with a satisfied look and told me: Come again on Monday and wear some old trousers, so you don’t get dirty on the scaffold. Who knows where I would be now, if I had told him I want to be a painter".

He had a good teacher

Sergios Sergiadis studied under Stratoulis for two years and came to view the hagiographer as mentor. He has been making religious icons since 1959 and his mind is always stuck on them. Even when he lies on his bed he's thinking of his icons.

He started making icons even before he was drawn to the church, because he heard the calling. Once he got dizzy while on the scaffold and he fell down from a great height. He stayed at hospital for two and a half months, but he didn't quail. "The scaffold was and still is my life; there is no way I can leave it. I didn't learn my art at school or by taking painting classes; I learned it practicing on the wall".

Hagiography, in Sergio's opinion, is a great art that helps people feel closer to God. "We are made in picture and likeness of God, but we became degenerate, we lost the likeness and only the picture part is left. God gave us a great gift by giving us His form, to make us aware of what we lost and where we came from. This is our passport, so that we can return to Him. Purified people see the Saints; we the sinners can see only their icons. These paintings are like stairs, the ability to use our brain to reach unreachable places and help us feel the love of the Saints".

He makes "fresco" paintings

Sergio Sergiadis is one of the few Greeks who make icons using the "fresco" technique. He plasters the church's wall and before it becomes dry he paints on it. The paint doesn’t creacte a membrane, but they are embodied in the mortar. "Fresco" breathes, and if water falls on the painting, it is absorbed. Only atmosphere's oxides and ice, which penetrate the mortar, can harm it. That is why this technique is not recommended for the exterior of churches.

Inside buildings, though, the "fresco" paintings live for thousands of years, like it happened in Vergina, Santorini and Egypt. "Fresco" paintings have to be finished while the plaster is still fresh.

That's why Sergio is always on the run. When he is invited somewhere, he can't go, fearing that the lime will dry. This job needs devotion and quick reactions. It can't be done by people who are always looking at their watch looking for a chance to leave.
TEXT-PHOTOS: GEORGE ZAFEIROPOULOS
SOURCE: www.greecewithin.com

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His work highly regarded by experts in the field.

The initial sketch is being painted on the fresh plaster.

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