The discovery of the "Dormition of the Virgin" on Syros, an authentic and signed work from the painter's Cretan period (the iconographic type of the "Dormition" was suggested as the compositional model for the "Burial of the Count of Orgaz" for quite some time), and the extensive archival research in the early 1960s contributed to the rekindling and reassessment of these theories. Significant scholarly works of the second half of the 20th century devoted to El Greco reappraise many of the various interpretations of him, including his supposed Byzantinism. Based on the notes written in El Greco's own hand and on his unique style, they see an organic continuity between Byzantine painting and his art. German art historian August L. Mayer emphasizes what he calls "the oriental element" in El Greco's art. He argues that the artist "remained a Greek reflecting vividly the Oriental side of Byzantine culture ... The fact that he signed his name in Greek characters is no mere accident". In this judgement, Mayer disagrees with Oxford University professors, Cyril Mango and Elizabeth Jeffreys, who assert that "despite claims to the contrary, the only Byzantine element of his famous paintings was his signature in Greek lettering". Hadjinicolaou, another scholar who is opposed to the persistence of El Greco's Byzantine origins, states that from 1570 on the master's painting is "neither Byzantine nor post-Byzantine but Western European. The works he produced in Italy belong to the history of the Italian art, and those he produced in Spain to the history of Spanish art".