A remarkable early work by Domenikos Theotokopoulos was venerated for generations in Greece before its hidden signature revealed the identity of its creator. Inside a church in the heart of Ermoupolis on the Greek island of Syros, a remarkable work by El Greco remains far from the crowds that gather around the painter’s celebrated masterpieces in the museums of Europe.
It is the “Dormition of the Virgin,” an early icon by Domenikos Theotokopoulos, the Greek painter who would later become known throughout the world as El Greco. What makes the work particularly remarkable is not only its age or its artistic importance. For generations, those who prayed before it did not know that one of the most important Greek artists in Western art history had painted it.
The icon was discovered and identified as a work of El Greco only in 1983, when archaeologist and Byzantinist Georgios Mastoropoulos examined it in the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin in Ermoupolis.
The painting that revealed the young El Greco
The Dormition of the Virgin is a relatively small work, measuring approximately 61.4 by 45 centimeters. It was painted in tempera and gold on wood and belongs to the artist’s early Cretan period. The Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades dates it probably to before 1567–68, when Theotokopoulos left Crete. The National Gallery dates the work to 1567. The scene depicts the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, a subject deeply rooted in the Byzantine and Orthodox artistic tradition.
The Virgin lies on her bier, surrounded by the Apostles. At the center, Christ holds the soul of his mother in the form of a small figure, while heavenly figures appear above the scene. At first glance, the painting belongs unmistakably to the world of Byzantine and post-Byzantine icon painting. Yet there is something else happening within it. The figures, composition, movement, and certain details reveal that the young painter was already looking beyond the artistic traditions in which he had been trained.
The Ephorate of Antiquities describes the work as particularly important for understanding Theotokopoulos’ artistic development because it combines his mature command of Byzantine technique with his exploration of Renaissance and Mannerist influences. In other words, the painting offers a rare glimpse of El Greco before he became El Greco.
The signature hidden in the painting
For around four centuries, the identity of the painter remained unknown. The icon continued to serve its religious purpose in the church, where it was venerated as an Orthodox image. Over time, much of its surface darkened and the work became difficult to read. Then, in 1983, Georgios Mastoropoulos arrived on Syros as part of research into the island’s churches and religious treasures.
According to accounts of the discovery, the icon was covered with numerous votive offerings and silver coverings over the figures of Christ and the Virgin. After these were removed and the surface was initially cleaned, something extraordinary appeared. At the base of the central candelabrum was a signature:
— “Domenikos Theotokopoulos, the painter.”
The discovery immediately transformed the significance of the icon. It was no longer simply an old Orthodox image preserved on a Greek island. It was a signed work by the young Cretan painter who would later revolutionize European painting. The discovery was reported internationally at the time. El País, for example, reported in April 1983 that a signed icon by El Greco had been found inside a church on Syros and identified Mastoropoulos as the archaeologist responsible for the discovery.
How did El Greco’s painting reach Syros?
That question adds another layer of mystery to the story. The exact early provenance of the icon is not completely documented. A widely repeated account connects it with the island of Psara and the destruction of the island during the Greek War of Independence.
According to this tradition, the icon was brought to Syros by Psarian refugees fleeing the destruction of their island. Some accounts associate it specifically with a monastery on Psara dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin. The work is therefore sometimes known in connection with the Psarian community of Syros.
This part of the story should be treated carefully. The icon’s presence in the church on Syros is established, but its complete journey from Crete to Psara and then to Syros is not documented with the same certainty as its authorship. That uncertainty, however, makes the story even more compelling.
At some point, an icon painted by a young Cretan master traveled across the Aegean and eventually ended up in a church on Syros—where generations of worshippers could look at it without knowing who had created it.
A window into El Greco’s Greek origins
The discovery of the Syros icon had importance far beyond the identification of one painting. Before the work was recognized, scholars had far less direct evidence of what Theotokopoulos’ art looked like during his years in Crete. The Dormition provided an exceptionally important reference point.
It demonstrated that the artist who would later produce the dramatic, elongated figures and visionary compositions of Toledo had begun his career deeply rooted in the Byzantine and Cretan icon-painting tradition. At the same time, the painting shows that the young artist was already absorbing ideas from the Italian Renaissance and Mannerism.
This mixture would become central to understanding El Greco’s extraordinary artistic journey—from Crete to Venice, Rome and eventually Toledo. The Ephorate of Antiquities specifically notes that the Syros icon documents both his Byzantine training and his early engagement with Renaissance and Mannerist currents. The National Gallery similarly describes the work as an important answer to the question of what kind of religious images the young Theotokopoulos was creating before his departure from Crete.
From a Greek island church to the world’s great museums
Although the icon remains in the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin in Ermoupolis, its importance has taken it far beyond Syros. The work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery in London, the Onassis Cultural Center in New York, the Benaki Museum in Athens, the Museo Santa Cruz in Toledo, the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens, and the Louvre Museum in Paris. Yet after these international exhibitions, the painting returned to the place where its modern story began. It remains on Syros, in the church where it was worshipped for generations and where its extraordinary identity was finally revealed.
The El Greco that survived in plain sight
There is something especially fitting about the story of the Dormition of the Virgin. El Greco became famous for paintings that challenged expectations, combining spiritual intensity with dramatic movement, unusual forms and an unmistakable personal vision. But his journey began much earlier, in the world of Greek Orthodox icon painting. The small icon on Syros allows that beginning to be seen.
It is not the El Greco of Toledo yet. There are no towering Spanish altarpieces or the elongated figures that would later become his signature. Instead, there is a young Cretan painter working within an ancient tradition while quietly pushing against its boundaries. And perhaps that is what makes the Dormition of the Virgin on Syros so important.
For centuries, it was simply an icon in a Greek church. Then, in 1983, a signature revealed that the painter standing behind it was one of the greatest artists the Greek world ever produced. Today, visitors to Ermoupolis can still stand before the same work and see the moment when Domenikos Theotokopoulos was beginning the journey that would eventually make him El Greco.
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