The Greek art of embroidery is one of the most important branches of artistic folk creation. It expresses, as do the other folk arts, the diffused aesthetic sense which is prevalent and reflects the social and economic conditions of its time and place. It is the product of an innate need for an unalloyed expression of popular sensibility as that is shaped by the traditions, mores and customs of society.
A decisive contribution was made to the acquisition by modern Greek folk art of its own individual character by the conditions prevailing during the last years of Turkish domination and the first decades of the independent Greek state. The modern Greeks under Turkish rule had conservatively followed the way of life of the closing years of the Byzantine Empire, remaining devoted to their Christian Faith and their local traditions and, unconsciously perhaps, attempting to retain their identity.
The renascence of the Greek race through the new economic, intellectual and social conditions which began to take shape in the last years of Turkish rule gave a new impetus to artistic sensitivity and expression on the part of the anonymous folk artist in all branches of modern Greek handicraft.