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Antonios Vasilakis (aka Antonio Vassilakchi), also L’Aliense (1556, Milos – 1629, Venice), was a Greek Renaissance painter who worked mainly in Venice and the surrounding area.

Biography
Antonios Vasilakis was born in 1556 into a Greek family on the Greek island of Milos, then under Venetian control. At a young age he settled in Venice. In 1572, Vasilakis became a pupil of Paolo Veronese and began to work with the frescoes of the Bishop’s Palace in Treviso, the Church of Sant’Agata in Padua, and many other churches in Venice. The opportunity to fully express himself was given to him after a great fire that almost destroyed the Doge's Palace in Venice in December 1577. Vasilakis-Aliense, a fellow countryman of El Greco and a little younger than him, was one of the artists called upon to paint the restored palace.

Vasilakis became a member of the Brotherhood of St. Nicholas of the Greek Nation, one of the most active foreign communities in Venice, in 1600. In the book of members of the fraternity, the secretary entered it between the names of natives of the islands of Kefalinia and Cyprus. He was also a member of the Brotherhood of Venetian Artists from 1584 and was nicknamed Aliense. This name is derived from the Latin alienus ("alien", "foreigner"), and was probably given to Vasilakis, since he was indeed a foreigner, that is, not only of non-Venetian but also of non-Italian origin.

Vasilakis was married three times. The name of his first wife, who gave birth to his son Stefano, is unknown. Stefano followed in his father's footsteps and as an artist helped Vasilakis in the creation of the Coronation of Baldwin of Flanders.

Stefano died young at the beginning of his career. Vasilakis also had two daughters who entered the convent of Santa Chiara (for which Vasilakis wrote the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos). His second wife, Giacomina, wrote her will on November 2, 1609, and died six days later. Vasilakis' last marriage was the most unfortunate. His biographer, Carlo Ridolfi, describes a painting by the artist where he depicted himself carrying his wife, her nurse, her uncle and her son from a previous marriage. Vasilakis showed this picture to his friends, saying, "This is a burden I will carry for the rest of my life."

Vasilakis died on the eve of Easter 1629 at the age of 73. He was buried with honors two days later in the church of San Vitale. It was in the same square as the house of Vasilakis, and a few years earlier he had written for it the Resurrection from the Dead and the Ascension of the Lord. The entry in the register of Venice read: 1629, April 15. Mr. Antonio Allenze, an artist, about 73 years old, with fever and catarrhal, died 12 days earlier.

Among his students was Tommaso Dolabella.

Works

The number of Vasilakis works in the Doge’s Palace exceeds the share of any other artist, as he painted in all the large halls of the Palace, such as the Sala del Maggior Consiglio, the Voting Hall (Sala dello Scrutinio), the Senate Hall (Sala del Senato), the Council Hall