In 1211, Venice conquers Crete and for the following centuries, due to its strategic trade route location and riches, the island becomes an important exportation and trading hub ruled by a wealthy and intellectually vibrant aristrocracy. After the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, many intellectuals and artists migrate to Crete.
In the Regno de Càndia (The Realm of Candia) the Byzantine world starts to blend with the Western Renaissance, creating a cross-culturally fertile ground for the arts and letters. The “Cretan Renaissance” is a golden period for the arts on the island, where both literature and painting flourish and is in full swing till 1669, the year that Candia (present day Heraklion) surrenders to the Ottomans after twenty years of siege, the longest known in European history.
The most famous and probably the most significant painter of portable icons is Michail Damaskinos , who also works for many years in Venice. Other important figures of the 15th century are Andreas Ritzos , and Nikolaos Tzafouris , followed in the 16th century by Georgios Klontzas .
Cretan iconographers exploit both the Byzantine religious painting tradition and Italian art. Influenced in particular by Italian masters such as Giovanni Bellini and Titian, both in terms of choice of subjects and technique, they produce portable icons which are both easy to transport and are used as collectibles. With orders coming either from the local aristocracy and a wealthy merchant class, from churches in Italy and prominent monasteries of the Orthodox diaspora, the Cretan icon painters develop the capacity to paint both in forma greca and in forma a la latina, which artists master.
In the 17th century AD, Candia has around 15.000 inhabitants and around 180 of them are painters- fact that demonstrates the artistic flourishing in Crete. Cretan iconographers were organised in a guild, based on the Italian model, and their workshops were quite populous.
The intellectual and artistic personality of the young Dominikos Theotocopoulos (El Greco) was formed in this artistic environment. In 1563, at the age of twenty-two, El Greco was described in a document as a "master" ("maestro Domenigo"), meaning he was already an enrolled master of the local guild, presumably in charge of his own workshop. He left for Venice a few years later, and never returned to Crete.
After the surrender of Candia to the Ottomans, many painters such as Emmanuel Tzanes Bounialis and Theodoros Poulakis relocate to Venice and the Ionian Islands as well as to other Orthodox centers. Others like Theofanis Strelitzas-Bathas moves to Meteora and Mount Athos where they, in turn, infuse the local orthodox painting traditions with their learnings.
Cretan iconographers have been particularly influential in the development of Orthodox painting tradition in the Greek, Slavic and Arab worlds.
