Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos (1 October 1541 – 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. El Greco was a nickname, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, often adding the word Κρής (Krḗs), which means "Cretan". El Greco was born in the Kingdom of Candia (modern Crete), which was at that time part of the Republic of Venice, Ita ...