Dicho Zograf

The first signed and dated icon by Dicho Zograf, Mother of God Pantohara (Joy to All), 1844, Ohrid Icon Gallery

Dimitar Krstev Dichov (Димитар Крстев Дичов), better known as Dicho Zograf, is one of the finest 19^th century artists in the Balkans who worked in the Byzantine tradition of icon and fresco painting.

Born in the remote mountain village of Tresonce, North Macedonia, in 1819, he is associated with the regional artistic tradition known as the ‘Debar School’ of painting. His nickname Zograf comes from the Greek word Ζωγράφος typically used for icon and fresco painters.

As many other period painters, he travelled to various parts within the Balkan peninsula, creating some 2,000 icons for churches in North Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece. Together with other painters from his workshop, he also decorated a number of churches with fresco paintings.