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,
Wu Bin (painter) Wu Bin (painter) Wu Bin () was a Ming dynasty Chinese landscape painter during the reign of the Wanli Emperor (r. 1573-1620). His courtesy name was "Wenzhong" and his art name "Zhiyin Toutuo" means "Mendicant monk at the temple hidden by tree branches". His specific dates of birth and death are not known. Wu was born in Putian in the Fujian province. The local relation linked him to Ōbaku Buddhism sect. He painted a large Nirvana scene painting for them. He was educated as one of the literati and skilled as a painter. He worked mainly in Nanjing about 1590-1610.