Domenikos Theotokopoulos, known as El Greco, 'The Greek', was born in Crete, which was then a Venetian possession. El Greco trained in Venice, where he developed his intense, colourful Mannerist style.
By 1577 El Greco had settled in Toledo, Spain, where he lived the rest of his life, executing mostly pictures for local religious foundations. He was also active as an accomplished painter of portraits. In Venice El Greco worked under Titian; he was much influenced by Tintoretto and the Bassano. He was in Rome in 1570 and studied the work of Michelangelo and Raphael. As a native of Crete he was deeply influenced by Byzantine art.
El Greco received a commission from Philip II for the Escorial ('The Martyrdom of Saint Maurice'), but the painting was not well received. In 'The Adoration of the Name of Jesus' Philip II is seen in the foreground. The majority of El Greco's paintings were produced for Toledo and its neighbourhood. He made several versions of his most famous compositions during the course of his career.
El Greco
1541 - 1614
Paintings by El Greco
El Greco has used theatrical gestures and intense colours to express the chaos and disruption of the Purification of the Temple – the moment that Christ drove out traders selling animals for sacrifice, furious that the temple was being used for commerce. Christ’s anger is shown through his body,...
This picture may have been made as a record of a larger work by El Greco in the Escorial, which he probably painted for Philip II, King of Spain. The letters ‘IHS’ – which stand for IHSOUS, the Greek spelling of ‘Jesus’ – are its main focus.The figures in the left-hand corner are the members of t...
The dead Christ, draped in white linen, is lowered into his tomb as mourners look on. Mary Magdalene and the Virgin, distraught, cradle his right arm and legs. The sculptural quality of Christ’s elongated, suspended body, based on Michelangelo’s Bandini Pietà (Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence...
Possibly by El Greco
Once mistaken for a portrait of a cardinal, this painting in fact shows Saint Jerome dressed in cardinal’s robes. He was often painted this way as recognition of his high status in the Catholic Church, even though the office did not exist during his lifetime. His major achievement was to translat...
Studio of El Greco
This work is based on an original by El Greco which now hangs in the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio. It’s a scene of Christ in torment, moments before his arrest – we can see the soldiers coming for him to the right.According to the Gospels, Christ retreated to the garden of Gethsemane to pray, askin...
Not on display
After El Greco
This may look like a portrait of an elderly man but his unusually dramatic expression suggests otherwise. He is Saint Peter, one of Christ’s apostles. We know this because his head is copied from a larger picture by El Greco, The Tears of Saint Peter (Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle), which focuses...
Not on display