Nikiphoros Lytras (1832-1904) was born in Tinos. He studied in Athens, at the School of Arts, later to be called Polytechnic School. His talent was soon evident, so in 1860 he won a scholarship from the Greek state to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. After completing these studies, in 1866 he became a professor at the School of Arts, a position he held throughout his entire life. All his life he remained faithful to the precepts and principles of the academism of Munich which, amongst other things, consisted in the detailed representation of themes. Lytras paid a lot of attention to ethnographic themes. Kalanta, I Klemmeni (The Carols, The Stolen One) and the Moiroloi ton Psaron (Dirge of Psara) are three of his most characteristic paintings. At the same time, he painted many portraits, the most famous being the portraits of the royal couple, Otto and Amalia. One of his most beautiful landscapes is the depiction of the region of Lavrio, an oil painting which, apart from the city and the factory, captures the special light of Attica.

Konstantinos Volanakis (1837-1907) from Iraklion, Crete, was also a School of Munich graduate. After a long stay in the countries of Western Europe, he returned to Athens, was hired as a professor at the School of Arts in 1883, and resigned twenty years later. Most of his paintings are seascapes, among which is the famous Exodos tou Areos (Exit of Mars), a subject taken from an important naval battle victory during the period of the Revolution. In addition, some other important paintings of his are the Port of Volos, the Circus, the Women doing laundry at the river and the Arrival of princess Sophia.

Probably the greatest figure in Greek painting in the 19th century was Nikolaos Gyzis (1842-1901). He, too, came from Tinos and studied in Athens, at the School of Arts. In 1865, having won a scholarship, he went to continue his studies at the Academy of Munich, where he settled for the rest of his life. He was very soon incorporated into the German pictorial climate, and became one of its most characteristic representatives. This creative incorporation is expressed in the painting News of Victory of 1871, which deals with the French-German war which was won by Germany, and the painting Apotheosis i Thriamvos tis Vavarias (Apotheosis, or Triumph of Bavaria). From 1886 he was a regular professor at the Academy of Munich, while from the same date he gradually turned from detailed realistic depictions towards compositions of a singularly impressionistic character. At the beginning of the 1870s he took a trip to Greece, which lasted for many years, after which he produced some interesting paintings with Greek themes, such as the Carnival at Athens and the Arravoniasmata (Engagement Ceremony), and a little later the painting After the destruction of Psara. Towards the end of his life, in the 1890s, he set about religious themes, the most representative one being the Triumph of Religion.