El Greco (Domenikos Theotocopoulos)

b. 1541 Candia, Crete; d.1614 Toledo

Born in Crete which then belonged to Venice, he probably trained in the Byzantine tradition of icon painting. He visited Venice possibly to complete his training and at some time in the later 1560's he moved to Rome where he was influenced by Michelangelo and Tintoretto. It seems that he did not flourish at the court of Pope Pius V and in 1577 he is recorded as being resident in Toledo where he remained until his death.

He soon received a substantial commission in the form of altar pieces for the High Altar and transept altars for the church of San Domingo el Antiguo. In 1581 Philip II commissioned The Martyrdom of S. Maurice and the Theban Legion which El Greco finished three years later to a dispiriting response. The work was refused with the King's secretary noting that 'The picture does not please His Majesty and it is no wonder for it pleases few'.

El Greco was one of the major exponents of Mannerism, exemplified in his use of highly idiosyncratic colour (acid greens, vivid yellows and cerise among others, often juxtaposed to produce an unsettling experience for the eye) and an unnatural elongation of the body (a classic affectation of high Mannerism).

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Selected Works

1577-9 The Trinity (Prado, Madrid) originally a transept altar piece at the church of San Domingo el Antiguo, Toledo.
1577-9 The Disrobing of Christ (Toledo Cathedral)
1578? The Dream of Philip II (El Escorial, near Madrid)
1580? Christ on the Cross Adored by Two Donors
(Louvre, Paris)
1585? St. Louis King of France Distributing Alms (Louvre, Paris)
1586 The Burial of Count Orgaz (Sto. Tomé, Toledo)
1587-92 The Apostles Peter and Paul (Hermitage, St. Petersburg)
c. 1600 Christ driving the Traders from the Temple (National Gallery, London)
c. 1605 Fray Felix Hortensio Paravicino (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
c. 1610 The Opening of the Fifth Seal (Metropolitan Museum, New York)