The artistic course of Yiannis Karoussos had the ultimate goal of the renewal and development of Byzantine monumental painting.  A brilliant example of his endeavour is his fresco on the Restoration of the Icons, part of his legendary monumental artwork, in Saint Panteleimon Cathedral, at Athens (Greece).

This fresco highlights the unique approach Karoussos had, on the sources from where he has drawn his references. Alongside, it clearly distinguishes his intention for the renewed perception of fresco painting within the framework of a contemporary approach.
The selection of his sources, concerning the prototypes, had always a multi-faceted approach. Even though the basis is primarily from Macedonian art, the artist enhanced it with a variety of corresponding and heterogeneous references. This diverse framework is fully assimilated into the Byzantine type, while, through this set of references, it creates the desired interoperability.

Into this scheme, each element incorporates its own value, covering specific liturgical and aesthetic needs, without restrictions on the implementation of the overall artistic proposal.
In the composition of the Restoration of the Icons, the prototypes, themselves, have an innovative artistic viewpoint, in relation to their era. This fact had created an added value to the fresco since the artists who created the prototypes had already embedded a complex framework of elements in their work. The result was a further enlargement of the scope of interoperability that led Karoussos to this pioneering composition.

Upcoming efforts to recreate the Restoration of the Icons, such as the one in St. Spyridon chapel, require respect on this enlargement. The initial approach concerns the reflection of the conditions entailed for the creation of the composition, i.e., the full assumption of both the right and the responsibility of such an enlarged field.

Yet, it is important to mention that the surplus value of such an effort requires compliance and, also, granting of the same, or greater, enlargement for future approaches. 

Two prominent icons are the main prototypes for the Karoussos's fresco, due to their innovative character:

i. The first one was painted around 1400, entitled the Triumph of Orthodoxy -henceforth the Icon of Triumph- and originated from Constantinople (or Crete). This icon is a part of the British Museum collection. 

ii. The second is a work of the Cretan School of mid-16th century,  entitled The Restoration of the Icons, - henceforth the Icon of Restoration- of the Benaki Museum collection (Athens, Greece).
These two icons are the main prototypes of all the later icons, referring to the theme, as well as of some frescoes such as those of Theofanis, at the Athonic Monastery of Stavronikita, which is considered the first fresco that depict this theme (mid-1500 AD).

​Despite his thorough study in artwork of Theofanis, the artist of the extra-scale frescoes, took his references from these two, tiny, portable icons, to develop his own approach to the composition. This choice was made, given their morphological and synthetic configuration, which not only reveal their aesthetic supremacy, but, ultimately, modify the meaning of the theme, in accordance with their times.

The calligraphic geometric pattern, the synthetic structure of the space and the combination of heterogeneous and anachronistic elements, are the basic artistic values, contained in the icons which compose a rich repertoire in their use as references.

In the narrative frescoes of the Restoration of the Icons and the 7th Holy Ecumenical Synod, on the southwest side of the narthex of the St. Panteleimon church, all the above elements are layered, as semantic and painting data, creating a composition, where they deploy in a uniformed level.

Here, Karoussos does not use the plain (background) as a second level, to support the first one (of the figures). On the contrary, all morphological elements stand side by side, without overlapping. They structure the composition, as a unified plain of the painted and semantic space. This kind of stratification is the artist's absolute reference point, in relation to these two templates, because of its capacity in interoperability through time and place. 

In the fresco of the Restoration of the Icons, Karoussos expands the icons' geometrical motif, showed in the overall composition, creating an ultimate background, as an extension of the central red textile, the clothing, and jewelry of the figures. This uniformed level, which gives the impression that it spreads like a Byzantine embroidered fabric throughout the church, is the open field of interoperability in future approaches to this composition.

This open field is the pure reference for the hybrid fresco of the Restoration of the Icons, in St. Spyridon chapel at Verga village of Messenian Mani.

As mentioned above, the surplus value of granting equal or greater enlargement to future formulations of this painting is based on the wide range of scope, granted by the artwork as a reference. More specifically, it concerns the deconstruction of stereotypes and closed shapes, while it creates an open framework of interoperability for its future development. Indeed, Byzantine art, per se, embeds the capability of this open field as a creative common practice. Looking back in history, the templates of various meta-Byzantine art groups were provided, as Creative Commons, for further use. 

However, the difference in the usage of Karoussos' artwork as a prototype, lies in the fact that it is not just an open framework, but an open source. In other words, it provides access to the core and rather than its usage as a simple template for reproduction, it enables modifications and reformations.  

The assumption of the right and responsibility of using this code as a template requires a cross-thematic approach to the creation, regarding the media used, technical, technological, and semantic. The creative use of hybridism, as this of St. Spyridon frescoes, concerns the fusion of old and new media, so that the result can respond to the changing conditions of modern society, constantly transforming the prospect of further enlargement in the field. In this way, Byzantine monumental art remains an active, continuous process that attests to its absolute teleological meaning, as expressed in the Apolytikion of 31 August, where: "Time and nature are constantly renovating themselves ".