CONTENTS
1. Christ driving the traders from the temple. Minneapolis Institute of Arts
2. Christ Healing the Blind. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden
3. A Boy Blowing on an Ember to Light a Candle (Soplón). Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples
4. Annunciation of the Virgin. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid
5. Portrait of Giulio Clovio. Galleria Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples
6. The Trinity. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid
7. The Disrobing of Christ. Toledo Cathedral
8. The Dream of Philip II (or The Adoration of the Name of Jesus). Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid
9. The Martyrdom of St. Maurice. Monasterio de El Escorial, Madrid
10. The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. Church of Santo Tomé, Toledo
11. The Burial of the Count of Orgaz (Detail)
12. The Resurrection. Museo del Prado, Madrid
13. Pentecost. Museo del Prado, Madrid
14. The Baptism of Christ. Museo del Prado, Madrid
15. Adoration of the Shepherds. Museo del Prado, Madrid
16. Laocoön. National Gallery of Art, Washington
17. The Vision of Saint John. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
18. Saint Andrew and Saint Francis. Museo del Prado, Madrid
19. The Agony in the Garden. Szépmûvészeti Múzeum, Budapest
20. Christ Carrying the Cross. Museo del Prado, Madrid
21. Saint Jacob the Elder. Toledo Cathedral, Spain
22. Saint John the Baptist. Museo del Prado, Madrid
23. Saint Paul. Private collection
24. Saint Louis, King of France, and a Page. Musée du Louvre, Paris
25. Saint Ildefonsus. Main chapel, Hospital de la Caridad de Illescas, Toledo, Spain
26. Coronation of the Virgin. Church of the Hospital de la Caridad de Illescas, Toledo, Spain
27. The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest. Museo del Prado, Madrid
28. Cardinal Fernando Niño de Guevara. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
29. An Elderly Gentleman. Museo del Prado, Madrid
30. The Assumption of the Virgin. Museo de Santa Cruz, Toledo, Spain
31. View of Toledo. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
32. The Imposition of the Chasuble to Saint Ildefonso (sculpture). Toledo Cathedral, Spain
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Finally, as a testimony of El Greco’s multifaceted activities, we end our collection of works with one of his polychrome wooden sculptures that the artist found so much pleasure in making, although the results of his carving was marginal in comparison to painting.
SYNOPSIS
Toward the last third of the 16th century, an exceptional painter came to Spain: Domenico Theotocopulos, known to us as El Greco. Before and after him, other painters arrived, such as Cincinato, Cambiaso, Zuccaro, Tibaldi, etc., most of them finding patronage at the court of Philip II –but they were all lesser artists –as would also be the case in the 17th century. In comparison to them, El Greco is an unrivalled and unpredictable personage. In spite of his Cretan ascent (“El Greco” means “The Greek”), he has often been claimed to be either Venetian or Spanish, because it was within these two traditions where he received training and carried out his work. However, nationalistic pride is to be seen behind these claims. In the same way, Picasso should be considered a French artist, as he spent most of his life in France and his works matured in contact with the modern French styles. But we like to think and speak of Picasso as a Spanish artist, as we also proclaim, in a way, of El Greco; and by doing so, we search for the most convincing arguments: his spiritual style, dry and austere, his almost surrealist colours and his feverish imagination –just to mention a few– can only have arisen from the hidalguía (nobility) and the religious and mystical climate of 16th century Spain.
Looking at the facts, we can only say that El Greco’s art was clearly inspired by Michelangelo and Titian, especially. Being Cretan-born, he would have had an Italian and Byzantine background at that time, as Crete was under Venetian and Byzantine rule. But let us take a closer look at the details of the life of the great artist.