The union of the Ionian Islands with Greece was the first expansion of the borders of the modern Greek state. After centuries of foreign rule under the Venetians, French, Russians, and British, the Ionian Islands were incorporated into the national body in 1864, when Great Britain, on the occasion of the accession of George I to the Greek throne, decided to cede them to Greece. Spyros Louis (1873–1940), a water carrier from Maroussi, a suburb of Athens, won the first Olympic Marathon when the Olympic Games were revived in Athens in 1896. His triumphant entry into the Panathenaic Stadium was cheered by 80,000 spectators. Dimitri Mitropoulos (1896–1960) was an important composer, pianist, and one of the leading orchestra conductors of the 20th century. His long tenure as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic and his worldwide recognition established him as one of the most distinguished artistic figures of modern Greece. Domenikos Theotokopoulos (1541–1614), known in the West as El Greco, was born in Crete, where he first studied the art of painting, and later apprenticed under Titian in Venice. In 1577, he settled in Toledo, Spain, where he created his most renowned masterpieces. He is regarded as a forerunner of modernism and influenced many artists of the 20th century.