Biography of El
Greco
El Greco was a "Spanish"
Mannerist painter, whose work, with that of Francisco
de Goya and Diego Velázquez, represents the acme
of Spanish art. El Greco (meaning "The Greek")
was born in Iráklion, Crete, in 1541 and was
named Domenikos Theotokopoulos. Details of his early
life and training are sketchy, but he probably first
studied painting in his native city. Although no works
from his first years survive, they were probably painted
in the late Byzantine style popular in Crete at the
time. Reminiscences of this style are seen in his later
work. He was an erudite man, whose taste for classical
and contemporaneous literature seems to have developed
in his youth.
About 1566, El Greco went to Venice,
where he remained until 1570. He was employed in the
workshop of Titian and was also strongly influenced
by Tintoretto, both masters of the High Renaissance.
Such early Venetian paintings as his Christ Healing
the Blind Man demonstrate his assimilation of Titianesque
color and of Tintoretto's figural compositions and use
of deep spatial recesses. Further Italian inspiration
came during the years El Greco spent in Rome, from 1570
to 1576.
In 1576 he left Italy and, after a
brief sojourn in Malta, arrived in Toledo in the spring
of 1577. He quickly began work on his first Spanish
commission, producing for the Church of Santo Domingo
el Antiguo the sumptuous Assumption of the Virgin, a
painting that marks a turning point in his art.
He submitted several paintings to King
Philip II for approval but was denied the commission.
One of these, The Triumph of the Holy League, proves
his ability to combine complex political iconography
with medieval motifs. El Greco also worked for Toledo
Cathedral: The Disrobing of Christ (1577-1579) for the
sacristy presents a splendid image of Christ in a rich
red garment, closely surrounded by his captors. The
work caused the first of several lawsuits brought by
the artist against his patrons, who objected to its
high price.
In 1586 El Greco painted one of his
greatest masterpieces, The Burial of Count Orgaz, for
the Church of Santo Tomé in Toledo. This work,
still in place, portrays a 14th-century Toledan nobleman
laid in his grave by Saints Stephen and Augustine. Above,
the count's soul rises to a heaven densely populated
with angels, saints, and contemporary political figures.
The Burial also manifests El Greco's typical elongation
of figures and a horror vacui (dread of unfilled spaces),
features of his art that became more pronounced in later
years. These characteristics may be associated with
international mannerism, which is still evident in the
art of El Greco sometime after it had ceased to be widely
popular in European painting.
El Greco's intensely personal vision
was rooted in his highly cultivated spirituality. Indeed,
there is present in his canvases a mystical atmosphere
similar to that evoked in the writings of such contemporaneous
Spanish mystics as Saint Teresa of Ávila and
Saint John of the Cross, although no evidence exists
that El Greco had any personal contact with them.
A feverish intensity can be sensed
in many of El Greco's canvases dating from the 1590s
until the time of his death. Baptism of Christ and Adoration
of the Shepherds, both in the Prado, seem to pulsate
with an eerie light generated by the holy figures themselves.
In addition, the Adoration figures are enveloped by
a steamy haze, observable in other late works, which
intensifies the mystical nature of the event. Subjects
of classical mythology, such as the Laocoon, and Old
Testament history, such as the unfinished apocalyptic
scene Opening of the Fifth Sea, attest to El Greco's
humanistic learning and his brilliantly personal and
novel approach to traditional themes. El Greco died
in Toledo on April 7, 1614, and he was buried there
in Santo Domingo el Antiguo.
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