Painting

In wall paintings and portable icons, ecclesiastical art on Crete preserved the Byzantine tradition unbroken. At least 25 artists are known to have been active in 14^th century Chandax, the greater part of their work involving church mural painting. Renaissance influence manifested itself from the 15^th century onwards, gradually leading to the emergence of the "Cretan School" of icon painting headed by Michail Damaskinos and Georgios Klontzas. The number of artists increased dramatically over the following centuries, and those in Chandax were organized members of a large, powerful guild. It was in this creative milieu that Domenicos Theotocopoulos (El Greco), the leading figure in the period, spent his youth.