Nikiforos Lytras (Greek: Νικηφόρος Λύτρας; 1832 – 13 June 1904) was a Greek painter. He was born in Tinos and trained in Athens at the School of Arts. In 1860, he won a scholarship to Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Munich. After completing these studies, he became a professor at the School of Arts in 1866, a position he held for the rest of his life. He remained faithful to the precepts and principles of the Munich School, while paying greatest attention both to ethnographic themes and portraiture. His most famous portrait was of the royal couple, Otto and Amalia, and his most well-known landscape a depiction of the region of Lavrio.




Lytras oeuvre falls into distinct periods. During the time that Lytras was Pilotys student he focused in history painting. His subjects were inspired from Greek Mythology and Greek history. After his return to Greece he started to paint portraits and every day life scenes. During this period, he wrote that The painter should devote himself to genre painting, and to subjects that move, delight, and educate the people.His trips in Minor Asia and Egypt enriched his paintings with Oriental themes, including the people and their lifestyles. In the closing years of his life, he painted many scenes about aging, loneliness and the fear of death.Lytras was one of the most famous painters in Athens. He participated and honored in many exhibitions: at the Zappeion exhibitions, as well as in exhibitions in Paris (1855, 1867, 1878, 1889 and 1900) and in Vienna (1873). Also as he was the official portraitist in Athens and he painted many members of the upper class of his time.His contribution in art was conceived also through his courses in the Athens School of Fine Arts. Although devoted to the school of Academic Realism and remaining uninfluenced by Impressionism, he marked Greek art history in his own way.In 1903 he was decorated with the Golden Cross of the Order of the Redeemer. In 1909 – after his death – some of his paintings were presented in Pilotys School (1885–1886) in Munich. In 1933 in Athens School of Fine Arts an exhibition with Lytras 186 paintings were presented.