The Samarina painters are among the most numerous and long-standing artistic groups of the late Ottoman period. The first Samarina painters who signed their works with their place of origin appear at the end of the 18th century. During the 19th century, the number of painters originating from Samarina increases dramatically, and members of "artistic" families continue their activity into the early decades of the 20th century.

The painters worked in groups – known as "guilds" or "crafts" – and were usually organized on a family, kinship, and common origin basis. Their activity extends impressively across almost the entire Balkan Peninsula! In the Greek territory, their work ranges from northern Peloponnese, through western Central Greece, Epirus, Thessaly, and Macedonia, while in the neighboring countries that once formed a unified Ottoman region, their activity is prominent in Albania, Northern Macedonia, and limited in Bulgaria.

During the period from the late 18th century to the first decades of the 20th century, 121 Samarina painters have been identified and documented, who signed murals and icons in the aforementioned areas. This is an especially impressive number of painters, perhaps one of the largest for painters originating from the same artistic workshop, demonstrating the continued strength of the post-Byzantine tradition, adapted to the conditions of the era.