Standing girl, 1866-73, oil on canvas mounted on plywood, 130.4 x 86.8 cm

In this painting, a scene of everyday life is reproduced in rich and meaningful simplicity. A girl stands on her feet in the middle of the composition, holding a basket with flowers. She is wearing a traditional outfit, rather formal for her age. The expression on the face of the young woman profiles a thoughtful, serious and staid person. Her surrounding is probably the corner of a courtyard, where we easily discern the tray on which a cup of coffee, a glass of water and a glass of liqueur have been served. On the ground there is a pannier with fruits. The scene is straightforwardly comprehended at first instance, but also allows for further analysis.

The chromatic processing of the subject (with the dress of the girl being assimilated into the white piece of cloth on which the tray has been placed) and the grey hues of the surrounding space, soften the contours and generate an extraordinary atmosphere. Both the expression and the posture of the girl imply timidity, expectation and apprehension. She appears as if waiting for the entrance of someone who lies outside the frame of the composition. Thus, through the representation of an everyday scene, Zacharias, with high sensitivity, invites us to feel for the girl’s emotional disposition, making us partakers in his work.

The piece dates from a period of transition for Greece; somewhere between 1866 and 1873. King Otto has left the country after his dethronement, the urban class has started to establish itself, without however renouncing its rural heritages, and most Greek painters have returned to Greece carrying along in their luggage the teachings of the Munich School. Among them, Ioannis Zacharias who – despite the shortness of his work as an artist on account of his premature death – is one of the most prominent genre scene painters of modern Greek art.