History of Crete Venice, overthrew official Venetian authorities and declared an independent Cretan Republic. The revolt took Venice five years to quell. During Venetian rule, the Greek population of Crete was exposed to Renaissance culture. A thriving literature in the Cretan dialect of Greek developed on the island. The best-known work from this period is the poem "Erotokritos" by Vitsentzos Kornaros (Βιτσένζος Κορνάρος). Another major Cretan literary figure was Nicholas Kalliakis (1645–1707), a Greek scholar and philosopher who flourished in Italy in the 17th Century. Georgios Hortatzis was author of the dramatic work "Erophile". The painter Domenicos Theotocopoulos, better known as El Greco,
Persephone Painter Persephone Painter The Persephone Painter, working from about 475 to the 425 BCE, is the pseudonym of an ancient Attic Greek vase-painter, named by Sir John Beazley after investigating a red-figure bell-krater vase of about 440 BCE which includes a mythological scene of the return of Persephone from Hades. This name vase of the Persephone Painter currently resides at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The Persephone Painter is known for his close relationship to the Achilles Painter, through whose workshop the Persephone Painter passed. Winfred van de Put suggested that Persephone Painter may be identified with