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,
BMN Painter Bellerophontes Class. He probably painted the majority of works by that grouping, including the name vase, depicting Bellerophontes fighting the chimaira. The abbreviation BMN that provides his covnetional name stands for "British Museum" and "Nikosthenes"and refers to his name vase, inventory B 295 in that museum. BMN Painter The BMN Painter was an Attic vase painter in the black-figure style, active during the third quarter of the 6th century BC. Initially, the BMN painter worked for the potter Lydos. Of the collabrotaion between the two, a Band cup and a belly amphora are known. John Boardman sees the BMN painter