|
[[ឯកសារ:El Greco - Portrait of a Man - WGA10554.jpg|thumb|220px |“រូបថតនៃបុរសមួយ” (ឆ្នាំ ១៦០៤) ដោយអែលហ្គ្រេកូ]]
{{មិនមែនភាសាខ្មែរ}}
'''អែលហ្គ្រេកូ''' ({{lang-el|Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος; Doménicos Theotokópoulos}}; {{lang-en|El Greco ឬ The Greek}} (ឆ្នាំ ១៥៤១ - ៧ មេសា ឆ្នាំ ១៦១៤) គឺជាវិចិត្រករ ជាងចម្លាក់ និងស្ថាបត្យករ[[សម័យបុនវុឌ្ឍិសិល្បៈ]]សំខាន់របស់[[អេស្ប៉ាញ]]នៅក្នុងសតវត្សទី ១៦ និង ១៧ ។ គាត់ជាអ្នកជំនាញផ្លូវការសរសេរ[[គំនូរប្រេង]] ដោយគាត់តែងតែចុះឈ្មោះនៅក្នុងគំនូរជាមួយឈ្មោះពេញជាភាសាក្រិច ។
{{ប្រអប់ពត៌មាន សិល្បករ
| bgcolour = #EEDD82
| name =El Greco
| image = El Greco - Portrait of a Man - WGA10554.jpg
| caption = ''Portrait of a Man'' (presumed self-portrait of El Greco), c. 1595–1600, oil on canvas, {{nowrap|52.7 × 46.7 cm}}, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York City, United States<ref>[http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/110001016 Metropolitan Museum of Art]</ref>
| birth_name = Doménikos Theotokópoulos
| birth_date = 1541
| nationality = [[Greeks|Greek]]
| birth_place = [[Heraklion]], [[Kingdom of Candia|Crete]]
| death_date = 7 April {{Death year and age|1614|1541}}
| death_place = [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], [[Habsburg Spain|Spain]]
| field = Painting, sculpture and architecture
| training =
| movement = [[Mannerism]]
| works = ''{{lang|es|[[Disrobing of Christ|El Expolio]]}}'' (1577–1579)<br>''The Assumption of the Virgin'' (1577–1579)<br>''[[The Burial of the Count of Orgaz]]'' (1586–1588)<br>''[[View of Toledo]]'' (1596–1600)<br>''[[Opening of the Fifth Seal]]'' (1608–1614)
| patrons =
| influenced by =
| influenced =
| awards =
| website =
}}
'''Doménikos Theotokópoulos''' ({{lang-el|Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος}} {{IPA-el|ðoˈminikos θeotoˈkopulos|}}; 1541{{spaced ndash}} 7 April 1614), most widely known as '''El Greco''', was a painter, [[sculpture|sculptor]] and [[architecture|architect]] of the [[Spanish Renaissance]]. "El Greco" ("The Greek") was a nickname,{{Ref_label|A|a|none}}{{Ref_label|B|b|none}} a reference to his [[Greeks|Greek]] origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in [[Greek alphabet|Greek letters]], Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος (''Doménikos Theotokópoulos''), often adding the word Κρής (''Krēs'', "[[Cretan]]").
El Greco was born in [[Crete]], which was at that time part of the [[Republic of Venice]], and the center of [[Post-Byzantine art]]. He trained and became a master within that tradition before traveling at age 26 to [[Venice]], as other Greek artists had done.<ref name="Brown27">J. Brown, ''El Greco of Toledo'', 75–77</ref> In 1570 he moved to Rome, where he opened a workshop and executed a series of works. During his stay in Italy, El Greco enriched his style with elements of [[Mannerism]] and of the [[Italian Renaissance|Venetian Renaissance]]. In 1577, he moved to [[Toledo, Spain]], where he lived and worked until his death. In Toledo, El Greco received several major commissions and produced his best-known paintings.
El Greco's dramatic and expressionistic style was met with puzzlement by his contemporaries but found appreciation in the 20th century. El Greco is regarded as a precursor of both [[Expressionism]] and [[Cubism]], while his personality and works were a source of inspiration for poets and writers such as [[Rainer Maria Rilke]] and [[Nikos Kazantzakis]]. El Greco has been characterized by modern scholars as an artist so individual that he belongs to no conventional school.<ref name="Br">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Greco, El|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|year=2002}}</ref> He is best known for tortuously elongated figures and often fantastic or phantasmagorical [[pigmentation]], marrying [[Byzantine art|Byzantine]] traditions with those of [[Western painting]].<ref name="Plaka53">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco—The Greek'', 60</ref>
==Life==
===Early years and family===
[[Image:Dormition El Greco.jpg|thumb|''[[Dormition of the Virgin (El Greco)|The Dormition of the Virgin]]'' (before 1567, [[tempera]] and gold on panel, {{nowrap|61.4 × 45 cm}}, Holy Cathedral of the Dormition of the Virgin, [[Hermoupolis]], [[Syros]]) was probably created near the end of the artist's Cretan period. The painting combines post-Byzantine and Italian mannerist stylistic and iconographic elements.]]
Born in 1541, in either the village of Fodele or Candia (the Venetian name of Chandax, present day [[Heraklion]]) on Crete,{{Ref_label|C|c|none}} El Greco was descended from a prosperous urban family, which had probably been driven out of [[Chania]] to Candia after an uprising against the Catholic [[Republic of Venice|Venetians]] between 1526 and 1528.<ref name="Plaka41">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco—The Greek'', 40–41</ref> El Greco's father, Geórgios Theotokópoulos (d. 1556), was a merchant and [[tax collector]]. Nothing is known about his mother or his first wife, also Greek.<ref name="Scholz7">M. Scholz-Hansel, ''El Greco'', 7<br>* M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 23</ref> El Greco's older brother, Manoússos Theotokópoulos (1531 – 13 December 1604), was a wealthy merchant and spent the last years of his life (1603–1604) in El Greco's Toledo home.<ref name="SHelcholz7">M. Scholz-Hansel, ''El Greco'', 7<br>*{{cite encyclopedia|title=Theotocópoulos, Doménicos|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia The Helios|year=1952}}</ref>
El Greco received his initial training as an [[icon]] painter of the [[Cretan school]], a leading center of post-Byzantine art. In addition to painting, he probably studied the [[classics]] of [[ancient Greece]], and perhaps the [[Latin]] classics also; he left a "working library" of 130 books at his death, including the Bible in Greek and an annotated [[Vasari]].<ref>Richard Kagan in, J. Brown, ''El Greco of Toledo'', 45</ref> Candia was a center for artistic activity where Eastern and Western cultures co-existed harmoniously, where around two hundred painters were active during the 16th century, and had organized a [[painters' guild]], based on the Italian model.<ref name="Plaka41" /> In 1563, at the age of twenty-two, El Greco was described in a document as a "master" ("maestro Domenigo"), meaning he was already a master of the guild and presumably operating his own workshop.<ref>J. Brown, ''El Greco of Toledo'', 75</ref> Three years later, in June 1566, as a witness to a contract, he signed his name as {{lang|el|''μαΐστρος Μένεγος Θεοτοκόπουλος σγουράφος''}} ("Master Ménegos Theotokópoulos, painter").{{Ref_label|D|d|none}}
Most scholars believe that the Theotokópoulos "family was almost certainly Greek Orthodox",<ref>X. Bray, ''El Greco'', 8<br>* M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco—The Greek'', 40–41</ref> although some Catholic sources still claim him from birth.{{Ref_label|E|e|none}} Like many [[Byzantine scholars in the Renaissance|Orthodox emigrants]] to Catholic areas of Europe, some assert that he may have transferred to Catholicism after his arrival, and possibly practiced as a Catholic in Spain, where he described himself as a "devout Catholic" in his will. The extensive archival research conducted since the early 1960s by scholars, such as Nikolaos Panayotakis, [[Pandelis Prevelakis]] and Maria Constantoudaki, indicates strongly that El Greco's family and ancestors were Greek Orthodox. One of his uncles was an Orthodox priest, and his name is not mentioned in the Catholic archival baptismal records on Crete.<ref name="Katimertzi">P. Katimertzi, [https://web.archive.org/web/20051127194214/http://ta-nea.dolnet.gr/print_article.php?e=A&f=16585&m=R26&aa=1 El Greco and Cubism]</ref> Prevelakis goes even further, expressing his doubt that El Greco was ever a practicing Roman Catholic.<ref name="Wethey125-127">H.E. Wethey, ''Letters to the Editor'', 125–127</ref>
Important for his early biography, El Greco, still in Crete, painted his ''[[Dormition of the Virgin (El Greco)|Dormition of the Virgin]]'' near the end of his Cretan period, probably before 1567. Three other signed works of "Doménicos" are attributed to El Greco (''[[Modena Triptych]]'', ''St. Luke Painting the Virgin and Child'', and ''[[The Adoration of the Magi]]'').<ref name="Alberge_1">D. Alberge, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2326011,00.html Collector Is Vindicated as Icon is Hailed as El Greco]</ref> In 1563, at the age of twenty-two, El Greco was already an enrolled master of the local guild, presumably in charge of his own workshop.<ref name="Panayotakis29">N.M. Panayotakis, ''The Cretan Period of Doménicos'', 29</ref> He left for Venice a few years later, and never returned to Crete. His ''Dormition of the Virgin'', of before 1567 in [[tempera]] and gold on panel was probably created near the end of El Greco's Cretan period. The painting combines post-Byzantine and Italian [[Mannerist]] stylistic and iconographic elements, and incorporates stylistic elements of the [[Cretan School]].
===Italy===
[[File:Adoration of the Magi.jpg|thumb|''The Adoration of the Magi'' (1565–1567, {{nowrap|56 × 62 cm}}, [[Benaki Museum]], Athens). The icon, signed by El Greco ("Χείρ Δομήνιχου", Created by the hand of Doménicos), was painted in Candia on part of an old chest.]]
[[File:7222 Adoración de los Reyes Magos.jpg|thumb|''Adoration of the Magi'', 1568, [[Museo Soumaya]], [[Mexico City]]]]
It was natural for the young El Greco to pursue his career in Venice, Crete having been a possession of the Republic of Venice since 1211.<ref name="Br" /> Though the exact year is not clear, most scholars agree that El Greco went to Venice around 1567.{{Ref_label|F|f|none}} Knowledge of El Greco's years in Italy is limited. He lived in Venice until 1570 and, according to a letter written by his much older friend, the greatest miniaturist of the age, [[Giulio Clovio]], was a "disciple" of [[Titian]], who was by then in his eighties but still vigorous. This may mean he worked in Titian's large studio, or not. Clovio characterized El Greco as "a rare talent in painting".<ref name="Plaka42">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco—The Greek'', 42</ref>
In 1570, El Greco moved to Rome, where he executed a series of works strongly marked by his Venetian apprenticeship.<ref name="Plaka42" /> It is unknown how long he remained in Rome, though he may have returned to Venice (c. 1575–76) before he left for Spain.<ref name="Mayer28">A.L. Mayer, ''Notes on the Early El Greco'', 28</ref> In Rome, on the recommendation of Giulio Clovio,<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Domenico Theotocopuli (El Greco)}}</ref> El Greco was received as a guest at the [[Palazzo Farnese]], which [[Alessandro Farnese (cardinal)|Cardinal Alessandro Farnese]] had made a center of the artistic and intellectual life of the city. There he came into contact with the intellectual elite of the city, including the Roman scholar [[Fulvio Orsini]], whose collection would later include seven paintings by the artist (''View of [[Mount Sinai|Mt. Sinai]]'' and a portrait of Clovio are among them).<ref name="Scholz19">M. Scholz-Hansel, ''El Greco'', 19</ref>
Unlike other Cretan artists who had moved to Venice, El Greco substantially altered his style and sought to distinguish himself by inventing new and unusual interpretations of traditional religious subject matter.<ref name="Mann89">R.G. Mann, ''Tradition and Originality in El Greco's Work'', 89</ref> His works painted in Italy were influenced by the Venetian Renaissance style of the period, with agile, elongated figures reminiscent of [[Tintoretto]] and a chromatic framework that connects him to Titian.<ref name="Br" /> The Venetian painters also taught him to organize his multi-figured compositions in landscapes vibrant with atmospheric light. Clovio reports visiting El Greco on a summer's day while the artist was still in Rome. El Greco was sitting in a darkened room, because he found the darkness more conducive to thought than the light of the day, which disturbed his "inner light".<ref name="Acton82">M. Acton, ''Learning to Look at Paintings'', 82</ref> As a result of his stay in Rome, his works were enriched with elements such as violent [[perspective (graphical)|perspective]] vanishing points or strange attitudes struck by the figures with their repeated twisting and turning and tempestuous gestures; all elements of Mannerism.<ref name="Plaka42" />
[[File:Julije Klovic 2.jpg|left|thumb||''Portrait of Giorgio [[Giulio Clovio]]'', the earliest surviving portrait from El Greco (c. 1570, [[oil painting|oil on canvas]], {{nowrap|58 × 86 cm}}, [[Museo di Capodimonte]], [[Naples]]). In the portrait of Clovio, friend and supporter in Rome of the young Cretan artist, the first evidence of El Greco's gifts as a [[portrait]]ist are apparent.]]
By the time El Greco arrived in Rome, [[Michelangelo]] and [[Raphael]] were dead, but their example continued to be paramount, and somewhat overwhelming for young painters. El Greco was determined to make his own mark in Rome defending his personal artistic views, ideas and style.<ref name="ScholzTazartes">M. Scholz-Hänsel, ''El Greco'', 20<br>* M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 31–32</ref> He singled out [[Correggio]] and [[Parmigianino]] for particular praise,<ref name="Kimmelman">M. Kimmelman, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04E1DB173CF930A35753C1A9659C8B63 El Greco, Bearer Of Many Gifts]</ref> but he did not hesitate to dismiss Michelangelo's ''Last Judgment'' in the [[Sistine Chapel]];{{Ref_label|G|g|none}} he extended an offer to [[Pope Pius V]] to paint over the whole work in accord with the new and stricter Catholic thinking.<ref name="Scholz20">M. Scholz-Hänsel, ''El Greco'', 20</ref> When he was later asked what he thought about Michelangelo, El Greco replied that "he was a good man, but he did not know how to paint".<ref name="Plaka47-49">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco—The Greek'', 47–49</ref> And thus we are confronted by a paradox: El Greco is said to have reacted most strongly or even condemned Michelangelo, but he had found it impossible to withstand his influence.<ref name="BrahamG">A. Braham, ''Two Notes on El Greco and Michelangelo'', 307–310<br>* J. Jones, [https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2004/jan/24/1 The Reluctant Disciple]</ref> Michelangelo's influence can be seen in later El Greco works such as the ''Allegory of the Holy League''.<ref name="Boubli217">L. Boubli, ''Michelangelo and Spain'', 217</ref> By painting portraits of Michelangelo, Titian, Clovio and, presumably, Raphael in one of his works (''The Purification of the Temple''), El Greco not only expressed his gratitude but also advanced the claim to rival these masters. As his own commentaries indicate, El Greco viewed Titian, Michelangelo and Raphael as models to emulate.<ref name="Scholz20" /> In his 17th century ''Chronicles'', [[Giulio Mancini]] included El Greco among the painters who had initiated, in various ways, a re-evaluation of Michelangelo's teachings.<ref name = "Tazartes32"/>
Because of his unconventional artistic beliefs (such as his dismissal of Michelangelo's technique) and personality, El Greco soon acquired enemies in Rome. Architect and writer [[Pirro Ligorio]] called him a "foolish foreigner", and newly discovered archival material reveals a skirmish with Farnese, who obliged the young artist to leave his palace.<ref name="Tazartes32">M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 32</ref> On 6 July 1572, El Greco officially complained about this event. A few months later, on 18 September 1572, he paid his dues to the [[Guild of Saint Luke]] in Rome as a [[Portrait miniature|miniature]] painter.<ref name="Brown">Brown-Mann, ''Spanish Paintings'', 42</ref> At the end of that year, El Greco opened his own workshop and hired as assistants the painters Lattanzio Bonastri de Lucignano and Francisco Preboste.<ref name="Tazartes32" />
===Spain===
====Move to Toledo====
[[File:Domenikos Theotokópoulos, called El Greco - The Assumption of the Virgin - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''The Assumption of the Virgin'' (1577–1579, oil on canvas, {{nowrap|401 × 228 cm}}, [[Art Institute of Chicago]]) was one of the nine paintings El Greco completed for the [[Monastery of Saint Dominic of Silos (the Old)|church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo]] in Toledo, his first commission in Spain.]]
[[File:USA-National Gallery of Art0.JPG|thumb|Detail of St. Ildefonso (1603)]]
In 1577, El Greco migrated to [[Madrid]], then to Toledo, where he produced his mature works.<ref name="Tazartges36">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Greco, El|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|year=2002}}<br>* M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 36</ref> At the time, Toledo was the religious capital of Spain and a populous city{{Ref_label|H|h|none}} with "an illustrious past, a prosperous present and an uncertain future".<ref name="Kagan">Brown-Kagan, ''View of Toledo'', 19</ref> In Rome, El Greco had earned the respect of some intellectuals, but was also facing the hostility of certain [[art criticism|art critics]].<ref name="Tazartes36">M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 36</ref> During the 1570s the huge monastery-palace of [[El Escorial]] was still under construction and [[Philip II of Spain]] was experiencing difficulties in finding good artists for the many large paintings required to decorate it. Titian was dead, and [[Tintoretto]], [[Paolo Veronese|Veronese]] and [[Anthonis Mor]] all refused to come to Spain. Philip had to rely on the lesser talent of [[Juan Fernández de Navarrete]], of whose ''gravedad y decoro'' ("seriousness and decorum") the king approved. However, Fernández died in 1579; the moment should have been ideal for El Greco.<ref>Trevor-Roper, Hugh; ''Princes and Artists, Patronage and Ideology at Four Habsburg Courts 1517–1633'', Thames & Hudson, London, 1976, pp. 62–68</ref>
Through Clovio and Orsini, El Greco met [[Benito Arias Montano]], a Spanish humanist and agent of Philip; [[Pedro Chacón]], a clergyman; and [[Luis de Castilla]], son of [[Diego de Castilla]], the dean of the [[Cathedral of Toledo]].<ref name="Plaka43-44">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco—The Greek'', 43–44</ref> El Greco's friendship with Castilla would secure his first large commissions in Toledo. He arrived in Toledo by July 1577, and signed contracts for a group of paintings that was to adorn the [[Monastery of Saint Dominic of Silos (the Old)|church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo]] in Toledo and for the renowned {{lang|es|''[[El Espolio]]''}}.<ref name="Irving">{{cite web|author=M. Irving|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1827701.html|title=How to Beat the Spanish Inquisition|work=[[The Independent]], archived at highbeam.com|date=9 February 2004|accessdate=20 August 2011}}</ref> By September 1579 he had completed nine paintings for Santo Domingo, including ''The Trinity'' and ''The Assumption of the Virgin''. These works would establish the painter's reputation in Toledo.<ref name="Brown" />
El Greco did not plan to settle permanently in Toledo, since his final aim was to win the favor of Philip and make his mark in his court.<ref name="Lambraki45">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco—The Greek'', 45</ref> Indeed, he did manage to secure two important commissions from the monarch: ''Allegory of the Holy League'' and ''Martyrdom of [[Saint Maurice|St. Maurice]]''. However, the king did not like these works and placed the St Maurice altarpiece in the [[chapter-house]] rather than the intended chapel. He gave no further commissions to El Greco.<ref name="Scholz40">M. Scholz-Hansel, ''El Greco'', 40</ref> The exact reasons for the king's dissatisfaction remain unclear. Some scholars have suggested that Philip did not like the inclusion of living persons in a religious scene;<ref name="Scholz40" /> some others that El Greco's works violated a basic rule of the [[Counter-Reformation]], namely that in the image the content was paramount rather than the style.<ref name="Plaka45">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco—The Greek'', 45<br>* J. Brown, ''El Greco and Toledo'', 98</ref> Philip took a close interest in his artistic commissions, and had very decided tastes; a long sought-after sculpted Crucifixion by [[Benvenuto Cellini]] also failed to please when it arrived, and was likewise exiled to a less prominent place. Philip's next experiment, with [[Federico Zuccari]] was even less successful.<ref>Trevor-Roper, op cit pp. 63, 66–69</ref> In any case, Philip's dissatisfaction ended any hopes of royal patronage El Greco may have had.<ref name="Brown" />
====Mature works and later years====
[[File:El Greco - The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.JPG|thumb|left|''[[The Burial of the Count of Orgaz]]'' (1586–1588, oil on canvas, {{nowrap|480 × 360 cm}}, Santo Tomé, Toledo), now El Greco's best known work, illustrates a popular local legend. An exceptionally large painting, it is clearly divided into two zones: the heavenly above and the terrestrial below, brought together compositionally.]]
Lacking the favor of the king, El Greco was obliged to remain in Toledo, where he had been received in 1577 as a great painter.<ref name="Pijoah">J. Pijoan, ''El Greco—A Spaniard'', 12</ref> According to [[Hortensio Félix Paravicino]], a 17th-century Spanish preacher and poet, "Crete gave him life and the painter's craft, Toledo a better homeland, where through Death he began to achieve eternal life."<ref name="Berg">L. Berg, {{cite web|url=http://www.kaiku.com/greco.html|title=El Greco in Toledo|work=kaiku.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090528102057/http://kaiku.com/greco.html|archivedate=28 May 2009 |accessdate=20 August 2011}}</ref> In 1585, he appears to have hired an assistant, [[List of Italian painters|Italian painter]] Francisco Preboste, and to have established a workshop capable of producing [[altar]] frames and statues as well as paintings.<ref name="Gudiol">Brown-Mann, Spanish Paintings, 42<br>* J. Gudiol, ''Iconography and Chronology'', 195</ref> On 12 March 1586 he obtained the commission for ''[[The Burial of the Count of Orgaz]]'', now his best-known work.<ref name="Tazartes49">M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 49</ref>
The decade 1597 to 1607 was a period of intense activity for El Greco. During these years he received several major commissions, and his workshop created pictorial and sculptural ensembles for a variety of religious institutions. Among his major commissions of this period were three altars for the Chapel of San José in Toledo (1597–1599); three paintings (1596–1600) for the Colegio de Doña María de Aragon, an [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] monastery in Madrid, and the high altar, four lateral altars, and the painting ''St. Ildefonso'' for the Capilla Mayor of the Hospital de la Caridad (Hospital of Charity) at [[Illescas, Toledo|Illescas]] (1603–1605).<ref name="Br" /> The minutes of the commission of ''The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception'' (1607–1613), which were composed by the personnel of the municipality, describe El Greco as "one of the greatest men in both this kingdom and outside it".<ref name="Gudio252">J. Gudiol, ''El Greco'', 252</ref>
Between 1607 and 1608 El Greco was involved in a protracted legal dispute with the authorities of the Hospital of Charity at Illescas concerning payment for his work, which included painting, sculpture and architecture;{{Ref_label|I|i|none}} this and other legal disputes contributed to the economic difficulties he experienced towards the end of his life.<ref name="Tazartes61">M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 61</ref> In 1608, he received his last major commission: for the Hospital of [[John the Baptist|Saint John the Baptist]] in Toledo.<ref name="Brown" />
[[File:El Expolio, por El Greco.jpg|thumb|''[[The Disrobing of Christ]]'' ({{lang|es|''El Espolio''}}) (1577–1579, oil on canvas, {{nowrap|285 × 173 cm}}, Sacristy of the Cathedral, Toledo) is one of the most famous [[altarpiece]]s of El Greco. El Greco's altarpieces are renowned for their dynamic compositions and startling innovations.]]
El Greco made Toledo his home. Surviving contracts mention him as the tenant from 1585 onwards of a complex consisting of three apartments and twenty-four rooms which belonged to the [[Marquis de Villena]].<ref name="Helios">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Theotocópoulos, Doménicos|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia The Helios|year=1952}}</ref> It was in these apartments, which also served as his workshop, that he passed the rest of his life, painting and studying. He lived in considerable style, sometimes employing musicians to play whilst he dined. It is not confirmed whether he lived with his Spanish female companion, Jerónima de Las Cuevas, whom he probably never married. She was the mother of his only son, [[Jorge Manuel Theotocópuli|Jorge Manuel]], born in 1578, who also became a painter, assisted his father, and continued to repeat his compositions for many years after he inherited the studio.{{Ref_label|J|j|none}} In 1604, Jorge Manuel and Alfonsa de los Morales gave birth to El Greco's grandson, Gabriel, who was baptized by Gregorio Angulo, governor of Toledo and a personal friend of the artist.<ref name="Tazartes61" />
During the course of the execution of a commission for the [[Hospital Tavera]], El Greco fell seriously ill, and a month later, on 7 April 1614, he died. A few days earlier, on 31 March, he had directed that his son should have the power to make his will. Two Greeks, friends of the painter, witnessed this [[will (law)|last will and testament]] (El Greco never lost touch with his Greek origins).<ref name="Scholz81">M. Scholz-Hansel, ''El Greco'', 81</ref> He was buried in the Church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo, aged 73.<ref name="HispTaz">Hispanic Society of America, ''El Greco'', 35–36<br>* M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 67</ref>
==Art==
{{details|Art of El Greco}}
===Technique and style===
The primacy of imagination and intuition over the subjective character of creation was a fundamental principle of El Greco's style.<ref name="Plaka47-49" /> El Greco discarded classicist criteria such as measure and proportion. He believed that grace is the supreme quest of art, but the painter achieves grace only if he manages to solve the most complex problems with obvious ease.<ref name="Plaka47-49" />
El Greco regarded color as the most important and the most ungovernable element of painting, and declared that color had primacy over form.<ref name="Plaka47-49" /> [[Francisco Pacheco]], a painter and theoretician who visited El Greco in 1611, wrote that the painter liked "the colors crude and unmixed in great blots as a boastful display of his dexterity" and that "he believed in constant repainting and retouching in order to make the broad masses tell flat as in nature".<ref name="Landon330">A. E. Landon, ''Reincarnation Magazine 1925'', 330</ref>
{{Quote box
|width = 16em
|bgcolor = #c6dbf7
|align = left
|quote = "I hold the imitation of color to be the greatest difficulty of art."
|source = {{mdash}} El Greco, from notes of the painter in one of his commentaries.<ref name="Mar80">Marias-Bustamante, {{lang|es|''Las Ideas Artísticas de El Greco''}}, 80</ref>
}}
Art historian [[Max Dvořák]] was the first scholar to connect El Greco's art with Mannerism and [[Antinaturalism (sociology)|Antinaturalism]].<ref name="Lopera20">J.A. Lopera, ''El Greco: From Crete to Toledo'', 20–21</ref> Modern scholars characterize El Greco's theory as "typically Mannerist" and pinpoint its sources in the [[Platonism in the Renaissance|Neoplatonism of the Renaissance]].<ref name="BrownMar">J. Brown, ''El Greco and Toledo'', 110<br>* F. Marias, ''El Greco's Artistic Thought'', 183–184</ref> Jonathan Brown believes that El Greco endeavored to create a sophisticated form of art;<ref name="Brown110">J. Brown, ''El Greco and Toledo'', 110</ref> according to [[Nicholas Penny]] "once in Spain, El Greco was able to create a style of his own—one that disavowed most of the descriptive ambitions of painting".<ref name="Penny">N. Penny, [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n05/nicholas-penny/at-the-national-gallery At the National Gallery]</ref>
[[File:El Greco View of Toledo.jpg|thumb|''[[View of Toledo]]'' (c. 1596–1600, oil on canvas, {{nowrap|47.75 × 42.75 cm}}, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York) is one of the two surviving landscapes of Toledo painted by El Greco.]]
[[File:El Greco - St Andrew and St Francis (signature detail).jpg|thumb|Detail from ''[[Media:El Greco - St Andrew and St Francis - WGA10500.jpg|St. Andrew and St. Francis]]'' (1595, oil on canvas, [[Museo del Prado]], Madrid), showing the artist's signature in [[Greek language|Greek]].]]
In his mature works El Greco demonstrated a characteristic tendency to dramatize rather than to describe.<ref name="Br" /> The strong spiritual emotion transfers from painting directly to the audience. According to Pacheco, El Greco's perturbed, violent and at times seemingly careless-in-execution art was due to a studied effort to acquire a freedom of style.<ref name="Landon330" /> El Greco's preference for exceptionally tall and slender figures and elongated compositions, which served both his expressive purposes and aesthetic principles, led him to disregard the laws of nature and elongate his compositions to ever greater extents, particularly when they were destined for altarpieces.<ref name="Lambraki57-59">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco'', 57–59</ref> The anatomy of the human body becomes even more otherworldly in El Greco's mature works; for ''The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception'' El Greco asked to lengthen the altarpiece itself by another {{convert|1.5|ft|m}} "because in this way the form will be perfect and not reduced, which is the worst thing that can happen to a figure'". A significant innovation of El Greco's mature works is the interweaving between form and space; a reciprocal relationship is developed between the two which completely unifies the painting surface. This interweaving would re-emerge three centuries later in the works of [[Paul Cézanne|Cézanne]] and [[Pablo Picasso|Picasso]].<ref name="Lambraki57-59" />
Another characteristic of El Greco's mature style is the use of light. As Jonathan Brown notes, "each figure seems to carry its own light within or reflects the light that emanates from an unseen source".<ref name="Brown136">J. Brown, ''El Greco and Toledo'', 136</ref> Fernando Marias and Agustín Bustamante García, the scholars who transcribed El Greco's handwritten notes, connect the power that the painter gives to light with the ideas underlying [[Neoplatonism and Christianity|Christian Neo-Platonism]].<ref>Marias-Bustamante, {{lang|es|''Las Ideas Artísticas de El Greco''}}, 52</ref>
Modern scholarly research emphasizes the importance of Toledo for the complete development of El Greco's mature style and stresses the painter's ability to adjust his style in accordance with his surroundings.<ref name="Hatz89-133">N. Hadjinikolaou, ''Inequalities in the work of Theotocópoulos'', 89–133</ref> [[Harold Wethey]] asserts that "although Greek by descent and Italian by artistic preparation, the artist became so immersed in the religious environment of Spain that he became the most vital visual representative of Spanish [[mysticism]]". He believes that in El Greco's mature works "the devotional intensity of mood reflects the religious spirit of Roman Catholic Spain in the period of the Counter-Reformation".<ref name="Br" />
El Greco also excelled as a portraitist, able not only to record a sitter's features but also to convey their character.<ref name="Metropolitan">The Metropolitan Museum of Art, [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grec/hd_grec.htm El Greco]</ref> His portraits are fewer in number than his religious paintings, but are of equally high quality. Wethey says that "by such simple means, the artist created a memorable characterization that places him in the highest rank as a portraitist, along with [[Titian]] and [[Rembrandt]]".<ref name="Br" />
===Painting materials===
El Greco painted many of his paintings on fine canvas and employed a viscous oil medium.<ref>Waldemar Januszczak (Ed), Techniques of the World’s Great Painters, Chartwell, New Jersey, 1980, pp. 44-47.</ref> He painted with the usual [[pigments]] of his period such as [[azurite]], [[lead-tin-yellow]], [[vermilion]], [[madder lake]], [[ochres]] and [[red lead]], but he seldom used the expensive natural [[ultramarine]].<ref>[http://colourlex.com/paintings/paintings-painter/greek-painters/ Greek painters at ColourLex]</ref>
===Suggested Byzantine affinities===
Since the beginning of the 20th century, scholars have debated whether El Greco's style had Byzantine origins. Certain art historians had asserted that El Greco's roots were firmly in the Byzantine tradition, and that his most individual characteristics derive directly from the art of his ancestors,<ref name="PrBC">R. Byron, ''Greco: The Epilogue to Byzantine Culture'', 160–174<br>* A. Procopiou, ''El Greco and Cretan Painting'', 74</ref> while others had argued that Byzantine art could not be related to El Greco's later work.<ref name="Cossio">M.B Cossío, ''El Greco'', 501–512</ref>
{{Quote box
|width = 30em
|bgcolor = #c6dbf7
|align = right
|quote = "I would not be happy to see a beautiful, well-proportioned woman, no matter from which point of view, however extravagant, not only lose her beauty in order to, I would say, increase in size according to the law of vision, but no longer appear beautiful, and, in fact, become monstrous."
|source = {{mdash}} El Greco, from marginalia the painter inscribed in his copy of [[Daniele Barbaro]]'s translation of [[Vitruvius]]' {{lang|la|''[[De architectura]]''}}.<ref name="Tzonis165">Lefaivre-Tzonis, ''The Emergence of Modern Architecture'', 165</ref>
}}
The discovery of the ''[[Dormition of the Virgin (El Greco)|Dormition of the Virgin]]'' on [[Syros]], an authentic and signed work from the painter's Cretan period, and the extensive archival research in the early 1960s, contributed to the rekindling and reassessment of these theories. Although following many conventions of the Byzantine icon, aspects of the style certainly show Venetian influence, and the composition, showing the death of Mary, combines the different doctrines of the Orthodox [[Dormition of the Virgin]] and the Catholic [[Assumption of the Virgin]].<ref>Robin Cormack (1997),199</ref> Significant scholarly works of the second half of the 20th century devoted to El Greco reappraise many of the interpretations of his work, including his supposed Byzantinism.<ref name="Cormack">{{Cite journal|url = http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+baptism+of+Christ+new+light+on+early+El+Greco.-a0135246782|title = The baptism of Christ: New light on early El Greco.|last = Cormack|first = R.|date = August 1, 2005|journal = [[Apollo (magazine)|Apollo]]|doi = |pmid = |access-date = July 1, 2015|last2 = Vassilaki|first2 = M.|issn = 0003-6536|via = [[The Free Library]]}}</ref> Based on the notes written in El Greco's own hand, on his unique style, and on the fact that El Greco signed his name in Greek characters, they see an organic continuity between Byzantine painting and his art.<ref name="Helm93-94">R.M. Helm, ''The Neoplatonic Tradition in the Art of El Greco'', 93–94<br>* A.L. Mayer, ''El Greco—An Oriental Artist'', 146</ref> According to Marina Lambraki-Plaka "far from the influence of Italy, in a neutral place which was intellectually similar to his birthplace, Candia, the Byzantine elements of his education emerged and played a catalytic role in the new conception of the image which is presented to us in his mature work".<ref name="LambrakiVima">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco, the Puzzle'', 19</ref> In making this judgement, Lambraki-Plaka disagrees with [[Oxford University]] professors [[Cyril Mango]] and [[Elizabeth Jeffreys]], who assert that "despite claims to the contrary, the only Byzantine element of his [[Works of El Greco|famous paintings]] was his signature in Greek lettering".<ref name="Mango">Mango-Jeffreys, ''Towards a Franco—Greek Culture'', 305</ref> Nikos Hadjinikolaou states that from 1570 El Greco's painting is "neither Byzantine nor post-Byzantine but Western European. The works he produced in Italy belong to the history of the [[Art of Italy|Italian art]], and those he produced in Spain to the history of Spanish art".<ref name="Hatz92">N. Hadjinikolaou, ''El Greco, 450 Years from his Birth'', 92</ref>
The English art historian David Davies seeks the roots of El Greco's style in the intellectual sources of his Greek-Christian education and in the world of his recollections from the liturgical and ceremonial aspect of the Orthodox Church. Davies believes that the religious climate of the Counter-Reformation and the aesthetics of mannerism acted as catalysts to activate his individual technique. He asserts that the philosophies of [[Platonism]] and ancient [[Neo-Platonism]], the works of [[Plotinus]] and [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]], the texts of the Church fathers and the liturgy offer the keys to the understanding of El Greco's style.<ref name="Davies20">D. Davies, "The Influence of Neo-Platonism on El Greco", 20 etc.<br>* D. Davies, ''the Byzantine Legacy in the Art of El Greco'', 425–445</ref> Summarizing the ensuing scholarly debate on this issue, José Álvarez Lopera, curator at the [[Museo del Prado]], Madrid, concludes that the presence of "Byzantine memories" is obvious in El Greco's mature works, though there are still some obscure issues concerning his Byzantine origins needing further illumination.<ref name="Lopera18-19">J.A. Lopera, ''El Greco: From Crete to Toledo'', 18–19</ref>
===Architecture and sculpture===
El Greco was highly esteemed as an architect and sculptor during his lifetime.<ref name="Griffith">W. Griffith, ''Historic Shrines of Spain'', 184</ref> He usually designed complete altar compositions, working as architect and sculptor as well as painter—at, for instance, the Hospital de la Caridad. There he decorated the chapel of the hospital, but the wooden altar and the sculptures he created have in all probability perished.<ref name="Harris">E. Harris, ''A Decorative Scheme by El Greco'', 154</ref> For {{lang|es|''El Espolio''}} the master designed the original altar of [[gilding|gilded]] wood which has been destroyed, but his small sculptured group of the ''Miracle of St. Ildefonso'' still survives on the lower center of the frame.<ref name="Br" />
His most important architectural achievement was the church and Monastery of Santo Domingo el Antiguo, for which he also executed sculptures and paintings.<ref name="Allardyce">I. Allardyce, ''Historic Shrines of Spain'', 174</ref> El Greco is regarded as a painter who incorporated architecture in his painting.<ref name="Tzonis164">Lefaivre-Tzonis, ''The Emergence of Modern Architecture'', 164</ref> He is also credited with the architectural frames to his own paintings in Toledo. Pacheco characterized him as "a writer of painting, sculpture and architecture".<ref name="Plaka47-49" />
In the [[marginalia]] that El Greco inscribed in his copy of [[Daniele Barbaro]]'s translation of [[Vitruvius]]' {{lang|la|''[[De architectura]]''}}, he refuted Vitruvius' attachment to archaeological remains, canonical proportions, perspective and mathematics. He also saw Vitruvius' manner of distorting proportions in order to compensate for distance from the eye as responsible for creating monstrous forms. El Greco was averse to the very idea of rules in architecture; he believed above all in the freedom of invention and defended novelty, variety, and complexity. These ideas were, however, far too extreme for the architectural circles of his era and had no immediate resonance.<ref name="Tzonis164" />
==Legacy==
{{details|Posthumous fame of El Greco}}
===Posthumous critical reputation===
{{Cquote|It was a great moment. A pure righteous conscience stood on one tray of the balance, an empire on the other, and it was you, man's conscience, that tipped the scales. This conscience will be able to stand before the Lord as the Last Judgement and not be judged. It will judge, because human dignity, purity and valor fill even God with terror ... Art is not submission and rules, but a demon which smashes the moulds ... Greco's inner-archangel's breast had thrust him on savage freedom's single hope, this world's most excellent garret.|20px||[[Nikos Kazantzakis]]|''Report to Greco''}}
[[File:Trinidad El Greco2.jpg|thumb|''The Holy Trinity'' (1577–1579, {{nowrap|300 × 178 cm}}, oil on canvas, [[Museo del Prado]], Madrid, Spain) was part of a group of works created for the church "Santo Domingo el Antiguo".]]
El Greco was disdained by the immediate generations after his death because his work was opposed in many respects to the principles of the early [[baroque]] style which came to the fore near the beginning of the 17th century and soon supplanted the last surviving traits of the 16th-century Mannerism.<ref name="Br" /> El Greco was deemed incomprehensible and had no important followers.<ref name="Plaka49">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco—The Greek'', 49</ref> Only his son and a few unknown painters produced weak copies of his works. Late 17th- and early 18th-century Spanish commentators praised his skill but criticized his antinaturalistic style and his complex [[iconography]]. Some of these commentators, such as [[Acislo Antonio Palomino de Castro y Velasco]] and [[Juan Agustín Ceán Bermúdez]], described his mature work as "contemptible", "ridiculous" and "worthy of scorn".<ref name="BrownFou">Brown-Mann, ''Spanish Paintings'', 43<br>* E. Foundoulaki, ''From El Greco to Cézanne'', 100–101</ref> The views of Palomino and Bermúdez were frequently repeated in Spanish [[historiography]], adorned with terms such as "strange", "queer", "original", "eccentric" and "odd".<ref name="Foundoulaki100">E. Foundoulaki, ''From El Greco to Cézanne'', 100–101</ref> The phrase "sunk in eccentricity", often encountered in such texts, in time developed into "madness".{{Ref_label|J|j|none}}
With the arrival of [[Romanticism|Romantic]] sentiments in the late 18th century, El Greco's works were examined anew.<ref name="Plaka49" /> To French writer [[Théophile Gautier]], El Greco was the precursor of the European Romantic movement in all its craving for the strange and the extreme.<ref name="Russel1">J. Russel, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE5DC1739F93BA25754C0A964948260 Seeing The Art Of El Greco As Never Before]</ref> Gautier regarded El Greco as the ideal [[romantic hero]] (the "gifted", the "misunderstood", the "mad"),{{Ref_label|K|k|none}} and was the first who explicitly expressed his admiration for El Greco's later technique.<ref name="Foundoulaki100" /> French art critics [[Zacharie Astruc]] and [[Paul Lefort]] helped to promote a widespread revival of interest in his painting. In the 1890s, Spanish painters living in Paris adopted him as their guide and mentor.<ref name="Russel1" /> However, in the popular English-speaking imagination he remained the man who "painted horrors in the Escorial" in the words of [[Ephraim Chambers]]' ''[[Cyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences|Cyclopaedia]]'' in 1899.<ref>Talbot Rice, ''Enjoying Paintings'', 164</ref>
In 1908, Spanish art historian Manuel Bartolomé Cossío published the first comprehensive catalogue of El Greco's works; in this book El Greco was presented as the founder of the Spanish School.<ref name="Brown43">Brown-Mann, ''Spanish Paintings'', 43<br>* E. Foundoulaki, ''From El Greco to Cézanne'', 103</ref> The same year [[Julius Meier-Graefe]], a scholar of French [[Impressionism]], traveled in Spain, expecting to study Velásquez, but instead becoming fascinated by El Greco; he recorded his experiences in ''Spanische Reise'' (''Spanish Journey'', published in English in 1926), the book which widely established El Greco as a great painter of the past "outside a somewhat narrow circle".<ref>Talbot Rice, ''Enjoying Paintings'', 165</ref> In El Greco's work, Meier-Graefe found foreshadowing of modernity.<ref>J.J. Sheehan, ''Museums in the German Art World'', 150</ref> These are the words Meier-Graefe used to describe El Greco's impact on the [[art movement|artistic movements]] of his time:
{{cquote|He [El Greco] has discovered a realm of new possibilities. Not even he, himself, was able to exhaust them. All the generations that follow after him live in his realm. There is a greater difference between him and Titian, his master, than between him and Renoir or Cézanne. Nevertheless, Renoir and Cézanne are masters of impeccable originality because it is not possible to avail yourself of El Greco's language, if in using it, it is not invented again and again, by the user.|30px||[[Julius Meier-Graefe]]|''The Spanish Journey''<ref name="Meier458">[[Julius Meier-Graefe]], ''The Spanish Journey'', 458</ref>}}
{{quote box
| width = 25em
| bgcolor = #c6dbf7
| align = left
| quote = "As I was climbing the narrow, rain-slicked lane—nearly three hundred years have gone by—I felt myself seized by the hand of a Powerful Friend and indeed I came to see myself lifted on the two enormous wings of ''Doménicos'' up to his skies which this time were full of orange trees and water speaking of the homeland."
| source = <div style="text-align:right">{{mdash}} [[Odysseas Elytis]], ''Diary from an April As Yet Unseen''</div>
}}
To the English artist and critic [[Roger Fry]] in 1920, El Greco was the archetypal genius who did as he thought best "with complete indifference to what effect the right expression might have on the public". Fry described El Greco as "an [[Old Master|old master]] who is not merely modern, but actually appears a good many steps ahead of us, turning back to show us the way".<ref name="Kimmelman" />
During the same period, other researchers developed alternative, more radical theories. The ophthalmologists August Goldschmidt and Germán Beritens argued that El Greco painted such elongated human figures because he had vision problems (possibly progressive [[astigmatism]] or [[strabismus]]) that made him see bodies longer than they were, and at an angle to the perpendicular;<ref name="Firestone">Chaz Firestone, [http://www.perceptionweb.com/abstract.cgi?id=p7488 ''On the Origin and Status of the "El Greco Fallacy"'']</ref>{{Ref_label|L|l|none}} the physician Arturo Perera, however, attributed this style to the use of [[cannabis (drug)|marijuana]].<ref name="Tazartes68-69">M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 68–69</ref> Michael Kimmelman, a reviewer for ''[[The New York Times]]'', stated that "to Greeks [El Greco] became the quintessential Greek painter; to the Spanish, the quintessential Spaniard".<ref name="Kimmelman" />
As was proved by the campaign of the [[National Gallery (Athens)|National Art Gallery in Athens]] to raise the funds for the purchase of ''Saint Peter'' in 1995, El Greco is loved not just by experts and art lovers but also by ordinary people; thanks to the donations mainly of individuals and public benefit foundations the National Art Gallery raised 1.2 million dollars and purchased the painting.<ref name="Plaka59">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco—The Greek'', 59<br>* Athens News Agency, [http://www.hri.org/news/greek/ana/1995/95-06-09.ana.html#10 Greece buys unique El Greco for 1.2 million dollars]</ref> Epitomizing the consensus of El Greco's impact, [[Jimmy Carter]], the 39th President of the United States, said in April 1980 that El Greco was "the most extraordinary painter that ever came along back then" and that he was "maybe three or four centuries ahead of his time".<ref name="Russel1" />
===Influence on other artists===
{{double image|right|El Greco, The Vision of Saint John (1608-1614).jpg|165|Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.jpg|180|''[[The Opening of the Fifth Seal]]'' (1608–1614, oil, 225 × 193 cm., New York, Metropolitan Museum) has been suggested to be the prime source of inspiration for Picasso's {{lang|fr|''Les Demoiselles d'Avignon''}}.|Picasso's ''[[Les Demoiselles d'Avignon]]'' (1907, oil on canvas, 243.9 × 233.7 cm., New York, [[Museum of Modern Art]]) appears to have certain morphological and stylistic similarities with ''The Opening of the Fifth Seal''.||}}
{{double image|right|El Greco - Portrait of the Artist's Son Jorge Manuel Theotokopoulos - WGA10567.jpg|151|Picasso Painter El Greco.jpg|180|''Portrait of Jorge Manuel Theotocopoulos'' (1600–1605, oil on canvas, {{nowrap|81 × 56 cm}}, Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes, [[Seville]])|The ''Portrait of a Painter after El Greco'' (1950, oil on plywood, {{nowrap|100.5 × 81 cm}}, Angela Rosengart Collection, [[Lucerne]]) is Picasso's version of the ''Portrait of Jorge Manuel Theotocopoulos''.||}}
El Greco's re-evaluation was not limited to scholars. According to Efi Foundoulaki, "painters and theoreticians from the beginning of the 20th century 'discovered' a new El Greco but in process they also discovered and revealed their own selves".<ref name="Foundoulaki113">E. Foundoulaki, ''From El Greco to Cézanne'', 113</ref> His expressiveness and colors influenced [[Eugène Delacroix]] and [[Édouard Manet]].<ref name="Wethey55">H.E. Wethey, ''El Greco and his School'', II, 55</ref> To the [[Blaue Reiter]] group in Munich in 1912, El Greco typified that ''mystical inner construction'' that it was the task of their generation to rediscover.<ref name="Foundoulaki103">E. Foundoulaki, ''From El Greco to Cézanne'', 103</ref> The first painter who appears to have noticed the structural code in the morphology of the mature El Greco was [[Paul Cézanne]], one of the forerunners of [[cubism]].<ref name="Plaka49" /> Comparative morphological analyses of the two painters revealed their common elements, such as the distortion of the human body, the reddish and (in appearance only) unworked backgrounds and the similarities in the rendering of space.<ref name="Foundoulaki105-106">E. Foundoulaki, ''From El Greco to Cézanne'', 105–106</ref> According to Brown, "Cézanne and El Greco are spiritual brothers despite the centuries which separate them".<ref name="Brown28">J. Brown, ''El Greco of Toledo'', 28</ref> Fry observed that Cézanne drew from "his great discovery of the permeation of every part of the design with a uniform and continuous plastic theme".<ref name="Lambraki15">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''From El Greco to Cézanne'', 15</ref>
The [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolists]], and [[Pablo Picasso]] during his [[Blue Period]], drew on the cold tonality of El Greco, utilizing the anatomy of his ascetic figures. While Picasso was working on {{lang|fr|''[[Les Demoiselles d'Avignon]]''}}, he visited his friend [[Ignacio Zuloaga]] in his studio in Paris and studied El Greco's ''[[Opening of the Fifth Seal]]'' (owned by Zuloaga since 1897).<ref>C.B. Horsley, [http://www.thecityreview.com/elgreco.html The Shock of the Old]</ref> The relation between {{lang|fr|''Les Demoiselles d'Avignon''}} and the ''Opening of the Fifth Seal'' was pinpointed in the early 1980s, when the stylistic similarities and the relationship between the motifs of both works were analysed.<ref name="Johnson">R. Johnson, ''Picasso's Demoiselles d'Avignon'', 102–113<br>* J. Richardson, ''Picasso's Apocalyptic Whorehouse'', 40–47</ref>
The early cubist explorations of Picasso were to uncover other aspects in the work of El Greco: structural analysis of his compositions, multi-faced refraction of form, interweaving of form and space, and special effects of highlights. Several traits of cubism, such as distortions and the materialistic rendering of time, have their analogies in El Greco's work. According to Picasso, El Greco's structure is cubist.<ref name="SouchèreFoun">E. Foundoulaki, ''From El Greco to Cézanne'', 111<br>* D. de la Souchère, {{lang|fr|''Picasso à Antibes''}}, 15</ref> On 22 February 1950, Picasso began his series of "paraphrases" of other painters' works with ''The Portrait of a Painter after El Greco''.<ref name="Foundoulaki111">E. Foundoulaki, ''From El Greco to Cézanne'', 111</ref> Foundoulaki asserts that Picasso "completed ... the process for the activation of the painterly values of El Greco which had been started by Manet and carried on by Cézanne".<ref name="Foundoulaki40-47">E. Foundoulaki, ''Reading El Greco through Manet'', 40–47</ref>
{{Quote box
|width = 25em
|bgcolor = #c6dbf7
|align = left
|quote = "In any case, only the execution counts. From this point of view, it is correct to say that Cubism has a Spanish origin and that I invented Cubism. We must look for the Spanish influence in Cézanne. Things themselves necessitate it, the influence of El Greco, a Venetian painter, on him. But his structure is Cubist."
|source = {{mdash}} [[Picasso]], speaking of ''[[Les Demoiselles d'Avignon]]'' to Dor de la Souchère in [[Antibes]].<ref name="Souchère15">D. de la Souchère, {{lang|fr|''Picasso à Antibes''}}, 15</ref>
}}
The expressionists focused on the expressive distortions of El Greco. According to [[Franz Marc]], one of the principal painters of the [[German Expressionism|German expressionist]] movement, "we refer with pleasure and with steadfastness to the case of El Greco, because the glory of this painter is closely tied to the evolution of our new perceptions on art".<ref name="Kandinsky75-76">Kandinsky-Marc, ''Blaue Reiter'', 75–76</ref> [[Jackson Pollock]], a major force in the [[abstract expressionism|abstract expressionist]] movement, was also influenced by El Greco. By 1943, Pollock had completed sixty drawing compositions after El Greco and owned three books on the Cretan master.<ref name="Pollock">J.T. Valliere, ''The El Greco Influence on Jackson Pollock'', 6–9</ref>
Contemporary painters are also inspired by El Greco's art. [[Kysa Johnson]] used El Greco's paintings of the [[Immaculate Conception]] as the compositional framework for some of her works, and the master's anatomical distortions are somewhat reflected in Fritz Chesnut's portraits.<ref name="Harrison">H.A. Harrison, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504EFDA133CF933A15750C0A9639C8B63 Getting in Touch With That Inner El Greco]</ref>
El Greco's personality and work were a source of inspiration for poet Rainer Maria Rilke. One set of Rilke's poems (''Himmelfahrt Mariae I.II.'', 1913) was based directly on El Greco's ''Immaculate Conception''.<ref>F. Naqvi-Peters, ''The Experience of El Greco'', 345</ref> Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis, who felt a great spiritual affinity for El Greco, called his autobiography ''Report to Greco'' and wrote a tribute to the Cretan-born artist.<ref name="Sanders10">Rassias-Alaxiou-Bien, ''Demotic Greek II'', 200<br>* Sanders-Kearney, ''The Wake of Imagination'', 10</ref>
In 1998, the Greek electronic composer and artist [[Vangelis]] published ''[[El Greco (album)|El Greco]]'', a [[symphony|symphonic]] album inspired by the artist. This album is an expansion of an earlier album by Vangelis, {{lang|el-Latn|''[[Foros Timis Ston Greco]]''}} (''A Tribute to El Greco'', {{lang|el|''Φόρος Τιμής Στον Γκρέκο''}}<!--the last Greek word looks incorrectly spelled: transliteration: Gkreko; is this a mistake?-->). The life of the Cretan-born artist is the subject of the film ''[[El Greco (2007 film)|El Greco]]'' of Greek, Spanish and British production. Directed by [[Yannis Smaragdis|Ioannis Smaragdis]], the film began shooting in October 2006 on the island of Crete and debuted on the screen one year later;<ref name="El Greco film">[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0905329/ El Greco, 2007], The Internet Movie Database</ref> British actor [[Nick Ashdon]] was cast to play El Greco.<ref name="Film on life">[http://www.hri.org/news/greek/ana/2006/06-05-09.ana.html#32 Film on Life of Painter El Greco Planned.] Athens [[News agency|News Agency]].</ref>
==Debates on attribution==
{{details|Works of El Greco}}
{{double image|right|The Modena Triptych.jpg|200|ElGreco signature.jpg|183|''[[The Modena Triptych]]'' (1568, tempera on panel, {{nowrap|37 × 23.8 cm}} (central), {{nowrap|24 × 18 cm}} (side panels), [[Galleria Estense]], Modena) is a small-scale composition attributed to El Greco.|"{{lang|el|Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος}} ({{lang|el-Latn|Doménicos Theotocópoulos}}) ἐποίει." The words El Greco used to sign his paintings. El Greco appended after his name the word "{{lang|el-Latn|epoiei}}" ({{lang|el|ἐποίει}}, "he made it"). In ''The Assumption'' the painter used the word "{{lang|el-Latn|deixas}}" ({{lang|el|δείξας}}, "he displayed it") instead of "{{lang|el-Latn|epoiei}}".||}}
The exact number of El Greco's works has been a hotly contested issue. In 1937, a highly influential study by art historian Rodolfo Pallucchini had the effect of greatly increasing the number of works accepted to be by El Greco. Pallucchini attributed to El Greco a small [[triptych]] in the [[Galleria Estense]] at [[Modena]] on the basis of a signature on the painting on the back of the central panel on the Modena triptych ("{{lang|el|Χείρ Δομήνιχου}}", Created by the hand of Doménikos).<ref name="Tazartes25">M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 25</ref> There was consensus that the triptych was indeed an early work of El Greco and, therefore, Pallucchini's publication became the yardstick for attributions to the artist.<ref name="Palluchini">R. Pallucchini, ''Some Early Works by El Greco'', 130–135</ref> Nevertheless, Wethey denied that the Modena triptych had any connection at all with the artist and, in 1962, produced a reactive catalogue {{lang|fr|''raisonné''}} with a greatly reduced corpus of materials. Whereas art historian José Camón Aznar had attributed between 787 and 829 paintings to the Cretan master, Wethey reduced the number to 285 authentic works and Halldor Sœhner, a German researcher of [[Spanish art]], recognized only 137.<ref>M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 70</ref> Wethey and other scholars rejected the notion that Crete took any part in his formation and supported the elimination of a series of works from El Greco's {{lang|fr|''oeuvre''}}.<ref name="Arslan">E. Arslan, ''Cronisteria del Greco Madonnero'', 213–231</ref>
Since 1962, the discovery of the ''Dormition'' and the extensive archival research has gradually convinced scholars that Wethey's assessments were not entirely correct, and that his catalogue decisions may have distorted the perception of the whole nature of El Greco's origins, development and {{lang|fr|''oeuvre''}}. The discovery of the ''Dormition'' led to the attribution of three other signed works of "Doménicos" to El Greco (''Modena Triptych'', ''St. Luke Painting the Virgin and Child'', and ''The Adoration of the Magi'') and then to the acceptance of more works as authentic—some signed, some not (such as ''The Passion of Christ (Pietà with Angels)'' painted in 1566),<ref name="Alberge_2">D. Alberge, [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/nov/23/artsandhumanities.arts Collector Is Vindicated as Icon is Hailed as El Greco]</ref>—which were brought into the group of early works of El Greco. El Greco is now seen as an artist with a formative training on Crete; a series of works illuminate his early style, some painted while he was still on Crete, some from his period in Venice, and some from his subsequent stay in Rome.<ref name="Cormack" /> Even Wethey accepted that "he [El Greco] probably had painted the little and much disputed triptych in the Galleria Estense at Modena before he left Crete".<ref name="Wetheyar">H.E. Wethey, ''El Greco in Rome'', 171–178</ref> Nevertheless, disputes over the exact number of El Greco's authentic works remain unresolved, and the status of Wethey's catalogue {{lang|fr|''raisonné''}} is at the center of these disagreements.<ref name="Mann102">R.G. Mann, ''Tradition and Originality in El Greco's Work'', 102</ref>
A few sculptures, including ''Epimetheus and Pandora'', have been attributed to El Greco. This doubtful attribution is based on the testimony of Pacheco (he saw in El Greco's studio a series of figurines, but these may have been merely models). There are also four drawings among the surviving works of El Greco; three of them are preparatory works for the altarpiece of Santo Domingo el Antiguo and the fourth is a study for one of his paintings, ''The Crucifixion''.<ref name="Web2">[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/nov/23/artsandhumanities.arts El Greco Drawings Could Fetch £400,000], The Guardian</ref>
==Notes==
{{collapsible list
|framestyle = width: auto; float: right; clear: right; margin:10px
|title = Timeline of El Greco's life (1541 – 7 April 1614)
|titlestyle = padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 4em
|1={{Timeline of El Greco's life}}
}}
{{refbegin}}
'''a.''' {{Note_label|A|a|none}} Theotokópoulos acquired the name "El Greco" in Italy, where the custom of identifying a man by designating a country or city of origin was a common practice. The curious form of the article (''El'') may be from the Venetian dialect or more likely from the Spanish, though in Spanish his name would be "{{lang|es|El ''Griego''}}".<ref name="Br" /> The Cretan master was generally known in Italy and Spain as ''Dominico Greco'', and was called only after his death El Greco ({{IPA-es|el greˈko}}).<ref name="Cormack" />
'''b.''' {{Note_label|B|b|none}} According to a contemporary, El Greco acquired his name, not only for his place of origin, but also for the sublimity of his art: "Out of the great esteem he was held in he was called the Greek (il Greco)" (comment of Giulio Cesare Mancini about El Greco in his ''Chronicles'', which were written a few years after El Greco's death).<ref name="Prevelakis47">P. Prevelakis, ''Theotocópoulos—Biography'', 47</ref>
'''c.''' {{Note_label|C|c|none}} There is an ongoing dispute about El Greco's birthplace. Most researchers and scholars give Candia as his birthplace.<ref name="PlTazSch">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco—The Greek'', 40–41<br>* M. Scholz-Hansel, ''El Greco'', 7<br>* M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 23</ref> Nonetheless, according to Achileus A. Kyrou, a prominent Greek journalist of the 20th century, El Greco was born in Fodele and the ruins of his family's house are still extant in the place where old Fodele was (the village later changed location because of pirate raids).<ref name="Helios" /> Candia's claim to him is based on two documents from a trial in 1606, when the painter was 65. Fodele natives argue that El Greco probably told everyone in Spain he was from Heraklion because it was the closest known city next to tiny Fodele.<ref>J. Kakissis, [http://www.boston.com/travel/articles/2005/03/06/the_root_of_the_matter__el_greco/ A Cretan Village that was the Painter's Birthplace]</ref>
'''d.''' {{Note_label|D|d|none}} This document comes from the notarial archives of Candia and was published in 1962.<ref name="Mertzios297-308">K.D. Mertzios, ''Selections'', 29</ref> ''Menegos'' is the Venetian dialect form of {{lang|el-Latn|''Doménicos''}}, and {{lang|el-Latn|''Sgourafos''}} ({{lang|el|''σγουράφος''}}={{lang|el|''ζωγράφος''}}) is a Greek term for painter.<ref name="Cormack" />
'''e.''' {{Note_label|E|e|none}} The arguments of these Catholic sources are based on the lack of Orthodox archival [[baptism]]al records on Crete and on a relaxed interchange between Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic rites during El Greco's youth.<ref name="Hammerman">{{cite web|author=N. Hamerman|url=http://www.catholicherald.com/stories/bEl-Greco-Paintings-Lead-Toward-City-of-Godb,2888|title=El Greco Paintings Lead Toward "City of God"|work=catholicherald.com|date=12 April 2003|accessdate=20 August 2011}}</ref> Based on the assessment that his art reflects the religious spirit of [[Habsburg Spain|Roman Catholic Spain]], and on a reference in his last will and testament, where he described himself as a "devout Catholic", some scholars assume that El Greco was part of the vibrant Catholic Cretan minority or that he converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism before leaving the island.<ref name="McGarrRom">S. McGarr, [http://www.tuppenceworth.ie/ArtsEnt/elgreco-st-francis-receiving-the-stigmata.htm St Francis Receiving The Stigmata],<br>* J. Romaine, [http://oldarchive.godspy.com/culture/El-Grecos-Mystical-Vision.cfm.html El Greco's Mystical Vision]<br>* J. Sethre, ''The Souls of Venice'', 91</ref>
'''f.''' {{Note_label|F|f|none}} According to archival research in the late 1990s, El Greco was still in Candia at the age of twenty-six. It was there where his works, created in the spirit of the post-Byzantine painters of the Cretan School, were greatly esteemed. On 26 December 1566 El Greco sought permission from the Venetian authorities to sell a "panel of the Passion of Christ executed on a gold background" ("un quadro della Passione del Nostro Signor Giesu Christo, dorato") in a lottery.<ref name="Cormack" /> The Byzantine icon by young Doménicos depicting the ''Passion of Christ'', painted on a gold ground, was appraised and sold on 27 December 1566 in Candia for the agreed price of seventy gold ducats (The panel was valued by two artists; one of them was icon-painter Georgios Klontzas. One valuation was eighty ducats and the other seventy), equal in value to a work by Titian or Tintoretto of that period.<ref name="Constantoudaki71" /> Therefore, it seems that El Greco traveled to Venice sometime after 27 December 1566.<ref name="Sethre90">J. Sethre, ''The Souls of Venice'', 90</ref> In one of his last articles, Wethey reassessed his previous estimations and accepted that El Greco left Crete in 1567.<ref name="Wetheyar" /> According to other archival material—drawings El Greco sent to a Cretan [[cartographer]]—he was in Venice by 1568.<ref name="Constantoudaki71">M. Constantoudaki, ''Theotocópoulos from Candia to Venice'', 71</ref>
'''g.''' {{Note_label|G|g|none}} Mancini reports that El Greco said to the Pope that if the whole work was demolished he himself would do it in a decent manner and with seemliness.<ref name="Scholz">M. Scholz-Hänsel, ''El Greco'', 92</ref>
'''h.''' {{Note_label|H|h|none}} Toledo must have been one of the largest cities in Europe during this period. In 1571 the population of the city was 62,000.<ref name="Plaka43-44" />
'''i.''' {{Note_label|I|i|none}}El Greco signed the contract for the decoration of the high altar of the church of the Hospital of Charity on 18 June 1603. He agreed to finish the work by August of the following year. Although such deadlines were seldom met, it was a point of potential conflict. He also agreed to allow the brotherhood to select the appraisers.<ref name="Engass205">Enggass-Brown, ''Italian and Spanish Art, 1600–1750'', 205</ref> The brotherhood took advantage of this act of good faith and did not wish to arrive at a fair settlement.<ref name="Fernádez172-184">F. de S.R. Fernádez, {{lang|es|''De la Vida del Greco''}}, 172–184</ref> Finally, El Greco assigned his legal representation to Preboste and a friend of him, Francisco Ximénez Montero, and accepted a payment of 2,093 [[ducat]]s.<ref name="Tazartes56">M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 56, 61</ref>
'''j.''' {{Note_label|J|j|none}}Doña Jerónima de Las Cuevas appears to have outlived El Greco, and, although the master acknowledged both her and his son, he never married her. That fact has puzzled researchers, because he mentioned her in various documents, including his last testament. Most analysts assume that El Greco had married unhappily in his youth and therefore could not legalize another attachment.<ref name="Br" />
'''k.''' {{Note_label|K|k|none}} The myth of El Greco's madness came in two versions. On the one hand Gautier believed that El Greco went mad from excessive artistic sensitivity.<ref>T. Gautier, {{lang|fr|''Voyage en Espagne''}}, 217</ref> On the other hand, the public and the critics would not possess the ideological criteria of Gautier and would retain the image of El Greco as a "mad painter" and, therefore, his "maddest" paintings were not admired but considered to be historical documents proving his "madness".<ref name="Foundoulaki100" />
'''l.''' {{Note_label|L|l|none}} This theory enjoyed surprising popularity during the early years of the twentieth century and was opposed by the German [[psychologist]] David Kuntz.<ref name="HelmTe93-94">R.M. Helm, ''The Neoplatonic Tradition in the Art of El Greco'', 93–94<br>* M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 68–69</ref> Whether or not El Greco had progressive astigmatism is still open to debate.<ref name="Grierson">I. Grierson, ''The Eye Book'', 115</ref> Stuart Anstis, Professor at the [[University of California]] (Department of Psychology), concludes that "even if El Greco were astigmatic, he would have adapted to it, and his figures, whether drawn from memory or life, would have had normal proportions. His elongations were an artistic expression, not a visual symptom."<ref>S. Anstis, ''Was El Greco Astigmatic'', 208</ref> According to Professor of Spanish John Armstrong Crow, "astigmatism could never give quality to a canvas, nor talent to a dunce".<ref name="Crow">J.A. Crow, ''Spain: The Root and the Flower'', 216</ref>
{{refend}}
{{Clear}}
==See also==
{{Wikipedia books|Key artists}}
* [[Museum of El Greco]], [[Fodele]], Crete
==Citations==
{{reflist|30em}}
==References==
;Books and articles
{{Refbegin|20em}}
* {{cite book|last=Acton|first=Mary|title=Learning to Look at Paintings|year=1991| publisher=Oxford University Press|ISBN=0-521-40107-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Allardyce|first=Isabel|title=Historic Shrines of Spain 1912|year=2003| publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn=0-7661-3621-3|chapter=Our Lady of Charity, at Illescas}}
* {{cite book|last=Álvarez Lopera|first=José|title=in M. Tazartes' "El Greco"|year=2005| publisher=Explorer| isbn=960-7945-83-2|chapter=El Greco: From Crete to Toledo (translated in Greek by Sofia Giannetsou)}}
* {{cite journal|last=Anstis|first=Stuart|title=Was El Greco Astigmatic|journal=Leonardo|volume=35|issue=2|page=208|year=2002|url=http://psy.ucsd.edu/~sanstis/PDFs/Greco.pdf|doi=10.1162/00240940252940612|format=PDF}}
* {{cite journal|last=Arslan|first=Edoardo|title=Cronisteria del Greco Madonnero|journal=Commentari|volume=xv|issue=5|pages=213–231|year=1964}}
* {{cite book|last=Boubli|first=Lizzie|title=Reactions to the Master edited by Francis Ames-Lewis and Paul Joannides|year=2003| publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=0-7546-0807-7|chapter=Michelangelo and Spain: on the Dissemination of his Draughtsmanship}}
* {{cite journal|last=Braham|first=Allan|title=Two Notes on El Greco and Michelangelo|journal=Burlington Magazine|volume=108|issue=759|pages=307–310|publisher=The Burlington Magazine Publications, Ltd.|date=June 1966|jstor=874984}}
* {{cite book|last=Bray|first=Xavier|title=El Greco|year=2004| publisher=National Gallery Company, London|isbn= 1-85709-315-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Brown|first=Jonathan (ed.)|title=El Greco of Toledo (catalogue)|year=1982| publisher=Little Brown|id=ASIN B-000H4-58C-Y|chapter=El Greco and Toledo}}
* {{cite journal|last=Brown Jonathan|first=Kagan Richard L.|title=View of Toledo|journal=Studies in the History of Art|volume=11|pages=19–30|year=1982}}
* {{cite book|last=Brown Jonathan|first=Mann Richard G.|title=Spanish Paintings of the Fifteenth Through Nineteenth Centuries|year=1997| publisher=Routledge (UK)|isbn=0-415-14889-8|chapter=Tone}}
* {{cite journal|last=Byron|first=Robert|title=Greco: The Epilogue to Byzantine Culture|journal=The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs|volume=55|issue=319|pages=160–174|publisher=The Burlington Magazine Publications, Ltd.|date=October 1929|jstor=864104}}
* {{cite journal|last=Constantoudaki|first=Maria|title=D. Theotocópoulos, from Candia to Venice (in Greek)|journal=Bulletin of the Christian Archeological Society|volume=8 (period IV)|pages=55–71|date=1975–1976}}
* {{cite book|last=Cormack|first=Robin|title=Painting the Soul, Icons, Death Masks and Shrouds|year=1997| publisher=Reaktion Books, London}}
* {{cite book|last=Cossío|first=Manuel Bartolomé|title=El Greco (in Spanish)|year=1908| publisher=Victoriano Suárez, Madrid}}
* {{cite book|last=Crow|first=John Armstrong|title=Spain: The Root and the Flower|year=1985| publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-05133-5|chapter=The Fine Arts—End of the Golden Age}}
* {{cite book|last=Davies|first=David|title=El Greco of Crete (proceedings) edited by Nicos Hadjinicolaou|year=1990| publisher=Herakleion|chapter=The Byzantine Legacy in the Art of El Greco}}
* {{cite book|last=Davies|first=David|title=El Greco of Crete (proceedings) edited by Nicos Hadjinicolaou|year=1990| publisher=Herakleion|chapter=The Influence of Christian Neo-Platonism on the Art of El Greco}}
* {{cite book|last=Engass Robert|first=Brown Jonathan|title=Italian and Spanish Art, 1600–1750|year=1992| publisher=Northwestern University Press|isbn=0-8101-1065-2|chapter=Artistic Practice—El Greco versus the Hospital of Charity, Illescas}}
* {{cite journal|last=Fernádez|first=Francisco de San Román|title=De la Vida del Greco—Nueva Serie de Documentos Inéditos|language=es|journal=Archivo Español del Arte y Arqueologia|volume=8|pages=172–184|year=1927}}
* {{cite journal|last=Firestone|first=Chaz|title=On the Origin and Status of the 'El Greco Fallacy'|journal=Perception|volume=42|issue=6|pages=672–674|year=2013|url=http://www.perceptionweb.com/abstract.cgi?id=p7488|doi=10.1068/p7488}}
* {{cite book|last=Foundoulaki|first=Efi|title=From El Greco to Cézanne (catalogue)|year=1992| publisher=National Gallery-Alexandros Soutsos Museum|chapter=From El Greco to Cézanne}}
* {{cite journal|last=Foundoulaki|first=Efi|title=Reading El Greco through Manet (in Greek)|journal=Anti|issue=445|pages=40–47|date=24 August 1990}}
* {{cite book|last=Gautier|first=Théophile|title=Voyage en Espagne (in French)|year=1981| publisher=Gallimard-Jeunesse|isbn=2-07-037295-2|chapter=Chapitre X}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|title=Greco, El|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|year=2002}}
* {{cite book|last=Grierson|first=Ian|title=The Eye Book|year=2000| publisher=Liverpool University Press|isbn=0-85323-755-7|chapter=Who am Eye}}
* {{cite book|last=Griffith|first=William|title=Great Painters and Their Famous Bible Pictures|year=2005| publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn=1-4179-0608-1|chapter=El Greco}}
* {{cite book|last=Gudiol|first=José|title=Doménicos Theotocópoulos, El Greco, 1541–1614|year=1973| publisher=Viking Press|id=ASIN B-0006C-8T6-E}}
* {{cite journal|last=Gudiol|first=José|title=Iconography and Chronology in El Greco's Paintings of St. Francis|journal=Art Bulletin|volume=44|issue=3|pages=195–203|publisher=College Art Association|date=September 1962|doi=10.2307/3048016|jstor=3048016}}
* {{cite book|last=Hadjinicolaou|first=Nicos|title=El Greco of Crete (proceedings) edited by Nicos Hadjinicolaou|year=1990| publisher=Herakleion|chapter=Doménicos Theotocópoulos, 450 Years from his Birth}}
* {{cite book|last=Hadjinicolaou|first=Nicos|title=Meanings of the Image edited by Nicos Hadjinicolaou (in Greek)|year=1994| publisher=University of Crete|isbn=960-7309-65-0|chapter=Inequalities in the work of Theotocópoulos and the Problems of their Interpretation}}
* {{cite journal|last=Harris|first=Enriquetta|title=A Decorative Scheme by El Greco|journal=The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs|volume=72|issue=421|pages=154–155+157–159+162–164|publisher=The Burlington Magazine Publications, Ltd.|date=April 1938|jstor=867279}}
* {{cite book|last=Helm|first=Robert Meredith|title=Neoplatonism and Western Aesthetics edited by Aphrodite Alexandrakis and Nicholas J. Moutafakis|year=2001| publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=0-7914-5279-4|chapter=The Neoplatonic Tradition in the Art of El Greco}}
* {{cite book|last=Hispanic Society of America|title=El Greco in the Collection of the Hispanic Society of America|year=1927| publisher=Printed by order of the trustees}}
* {{cite journal|last=Johnson|first=Ron|title=Picasso's "Demoiselles d'Avignon" and the Theatre of the Absurd|journal=Arts Magazine|volume=V|issue=2|pages=102–113|date=October 1980}}
* {{cite book|last=Kandinsky Wassily|first=Marc Franz|title=L'Almanach du "Blaue Reiter"|year=1987| publisher=Klincksieck|isbn=2-252-02567-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Lambraki-Plaka|first=Marina|title=El Greco-The Greek|year=1999| publisher=Kastaniotis|isbn=960-03-2544-8}}
* {{cite journal|last=Lambraki-Plaka|first=Marina|title=El Greco, the Puzzle. Doménicos Theotocópoulos today|journal=To Vima|date=19 April 1987}}
* {{cite book|last=Lambraki-Plaka|first=Marina|title=From El Greco to Cézanne (catalogue)|year=1992| publisher=National Gallery-Alexandros Soutsos Museum|chapter=From El Greco to Cézanne (An "Imaginary Museum" with Masterpieces of Three Centuries)}}
* {{cite book|last=Landon|first=A.E.|title=Reincarnation Magazine 1925|year=2003| publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn=0-7661-3775-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Lefaivre Liane|first=Tzonis Alexander|title=El Greco—The Greek|year=2003| publisher=Routledge (UK)|isbn=0-415-26025-6|chapter=El Greco (Domenico Theotocopoulos)}}
* {{cite book|last=Mango Cyril|first=Jeffreys Elizabeth|title=The Oxford History of Byzantium|year=2002| publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-814098-3|chapter=Towards a Franco-Greek Culture}}
* {{cite journal|last=Mann|first=Richard G.|title=Tradition and Originality in El Greco's Work|journal=Journal of the Rocky Mountain|volume=23|pages=83–110|year=2002|url=http://humanities.byu.edu/rmmra/pdfs/23.pdf|publisher=The Medieval and Renaissance Association|format=PDF}}
* {{cite book|last=Marias|first=Fernando|title=El Greco, Identity and Transformation edited by Alvarez Lopera|year=1999| publisher=Skira|isbn=88-8118-474-5|chapter=El Greco's Artistic Thought}}
* {{cite book|last=Marias Fernando|first=Bustamante García Agustín|title=Las Ideas Artísticas de El Greco (in Spanish)|year=1981| publisher=Cátedra|isbn=84-376-0263-7}}
* {{cite journal|last=Mayer|first=August L.|title=El Greco—An Oriental Artist|journal=The Art Bulletin|volume=11|issue=2|pages=146–152|date=June 1929|publisher=College Art Association|doi=10.2307/3045440|jstor=3045440}}
* {{cite journal|last=Mayer|first=August L.|title=Notes on the Early El Greco|journal=The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs|volume=74|issue=430|pages=28–29+32–33|publisher=The Burlington Magazine Publications, Ltd.|date=January 1939|jstor=867546}}
* {{cite book|last=Meier-Graefe|first=Julius|title=The Spanish Journey (translated form German by J. Holroyd-Reece)|year=1926| publisher=Jonathan Cape, London}}
* {{cite journal|last=Mertzios|first=K.D.|title=Selections of the Registers of the Cretan Notary Michael Maras (1538–1578) (in Greek)|journal=Cretan Chronicles|volume=2|issue=15–16|pages=55–71|date=1961–1962}}
* {{cite journal|last=Nagvi-Peters|first=Fatima|title=A Turning Point in Rilke's Evolution: The Experience of El Greco|journal=Germanic Review|volume=72|date=22 September 1997|url=http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=97922727}}
* {{cite journal|last=Pallucchini|first=Rodolfo|title=Some Early Works by El Greco|journal=Burlington Magazine|volume=90|issue=542|pages=130–135, 137|publisher=The Burlington Magazine Publications, Ltd.|date=May 1948|jstor=869910}}
* {{cite book|last=Panayotakis|first=Nikolaos M.|title=Festschrift In Honor Of Nikos Svoronos, Volume B|year=1986| publisher=Crete University Press| chapter="The Cretan Period of the Life of Doménicos Theotocópoulos}}
* {{cite journal|last=Pijoan|first=Joseph|title=El Greco—A Spaniard|journal=Art Bulletin|volume=12|issue=1|pages=12–19|date=March 1930|publisher=College Art Association|doi=10.2307/3050759|jstor=3050759}}
* {{cite journal|last=Procopiou|first=Angelo|title=El Greco and Cretan Painting|journal=Burlington Magazine|volume=94|issue=588|pages=74+76–80|date=March 1952|jstor=870678|publisher=The Burlington Magazine Publications, Ltd.}}
* {{cite book|author1=Rassias John |author2=Alexiou Christos |author3=Bien Peter |title=Demotic Greek II: The Flying Telephone Booth|year=1982| publisher=UPNE|isbn=0-87451-208-5|chapter=Greco}}
* {{cite journal|last=Richardson|first=John|title=Picasso's Apocalyptic Whorehouse|journal=The New York Review of Books|volume=34|issue=7|pages=40–47|date=23 April 1987|publisher=|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1987/apr/23/picassos-apocalyptic-whorehouse/}}
* {{cite journal|last=Salas|first=X. de|title=The Velazquez Exhibition in Madrid|journal=Burlington Magazine|volume=103|issue=695|pages=54–57|date=February 1961}}
* {{cite book|last=Sanders Alan|first=Kearney Richard|title=The Wake of Imagination: Toward a Postmodern Culture|year=1998| publisher=Routledge (UK)|isbn=0-415-11950-2|chapter=Changing Faces}}
* {{cite book|last=Scholz-Hansel|first=Michael|title=El Greco|year=1986| publisher=Taschen| isbn=3-8228-3171-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Sethre|first=Janet|title=The Souls of Venice|year=2003| publisher=McFarland & Company| isbn=0-7864-1573-8|chapter=El Greco}}
* {{cite book|last=Sheehanl|first=J.J.|title=Museums in the German Art World|year=2000| publisher=Oxford University Press US| isbn=0-19-513572-5|chapter=Critiques of a Museum Culture}}
* {{cite book|last=Souchère de la|first=Dor|title=Picasso à Antibes (in French)|year=1960| publisher=Fernan Hazan (Paris)}}
* {{cite book|last=Talbot Rice|first=David|title=Enjoying Paintings|year=1964| publisher=Penguin| location=London| editor=David Piper| id=ASIN B-000-BGRP4-C}}
* {{cite book|last=Tazartes|first=Mauricia|title=El Greco (translated in Greek by Sofia Giannetsou)|year=2005| publisher=Explorer| isbn=960-7945-83-2}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|title=Theotocópoulos, Doménicos|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia The Helios|year=1952}}
* {{cite journal|last=Valliere|first=James T.|title=The El Greco Influence on Jackson Pollock's Early Works|journal=Art Journal|volume=24|issue=1|pages=6–9|date=Autumn 1964|publisher=College Art Association.|doi=10.2307/774739|jstor=774739}}
* {{cite book|last=Wethey|first=Harold E.|title=El Greco and his School (Volume II)|year=1962| publisher=Princeton University Press| id=ASIN B-0007D-NZV-6}}
* {{cite journal|last=Wethey|first=Harold E.|title=El Greco in Rome and the [[Portrait of Vincenzo Anastagi]]|journal=Studies in the History of Art|volume=13|pages=171–178|year=1984}}
* {{cite journal|last=Wethey|first=Harold E.|title=Letter to the Editor|journal=Art Bulletin|volume=48|issue=1|pages=125–127|date=March 1966|publisher=College Art Association.|jstor=3048356|last2=Forsyth|first2=G. H.|last3=Levitine|first3=G.|last4=Wethey|first4=H. E.|last5=Kelemen|first5=P. l.}}
{{refend}}
;Online sources
{{Refbegin|20em}}
* {{cite news | title = Collector is Vindicated as Icon is Hailed as El Greco | last = Alberge | first = Dalya |work=The Times |location=London | url = https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/nov/23/artsandhumanities.arts | date = 24 August 2006 | accessdate = 17 December 2006 }}
* {{cite web | title = El Greco in Toledo | last = Berg | first = Liisa | url = http://www.kaiku.com/greco.html | accessdate = 14 October 2006 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060621074024/http://kaiku.com/greco.html |archivedate = 21 June 2006}}
* {{cite news | title = The Baptism of Christ New Light on Early El Greco | publisher=Apollo Magazine | last = Cormack | first = Robin |author2=Vassilaki Maria | url = http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+baptism+of+Christ+new+light+on+early+El+Greco.-a0135246782 |date = August 2005| accessdate = 17 December 2006}}
* {{cite news | title = Art: Dominick the Greek | work=Time | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,801244,00.html |date = January 1941| accessdate = 28 August 2009}}
* {{cite web | title = El Greco | work=The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Department of European Paintings | url = http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grec/hd_grec.htm | accessdate = 17 October 2006}}
* {{cite news | title = El Greco Drawings could fetch £400,000 |work=The Guardian |location=London | url = https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/nov/23/artsandhumanities.arts | date = 23 November 2002 | accessdate = 17 December 2006 }}
* {{cite news | title = Film on life of painter El Greco planned, Athens | date =9 May 2006 | publisher=Athens News Agency | url = http://www.hri.org/news/greek/ana/2006/06-05-09.ana.html#32 | accessdate = 17 December 2006}}
* {{cite news | title = Greece buys unique El Greco for 1.2 million dollars, Athens | date = 9 June 1995 | publisher=Athens News Agency | url = http://www.hri.org/news/greek/ana/1995/95-06-09.ana.html#10 | accessdate = 7 December 2006}}
* {{cite news | title = El Greco Paintings Lead Toward 'City of God' | publisher=Catholic Herald | last = Hamerman | first = Nora | url = http://www.catholicherald.com/stories/bEl-Greco-Paintings-Lead-Toward-City-of-Godb,2888 | date = 4 December 2003 | accessdate = 17 December 2006 }}
* {{cite news | title = Art Review; Getting in Touch With That Inner El Greco |work=New York Times | last = Harrison | first = Helen A | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504EFDA133CF933A15750C0A9639C8B63 | date = 20 March 2005 | accessdate = 17 December 2006}}
* {{cite web | title = The Shock of the Old | last = Horsley | first = Carter B | url = http://www.thecityreview.com/elgreco.html | accessdate = 26 October 2006}}
* {{cite news | title = How to Beat the Spanish Inquisition | last = Irving | first = Mark | publisher=[[The Independent on Sunday]] | url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1827701.html | date = 8 February 2004 | accessdate = 17 December 2006}}
* {{cite news | title = The Reluctant Disciple | last = Jones | first = Jonathan |work=The Guardian |location=London | url = https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2004/jan/24/1 | date = 24 January 2004 | accessdate = 18 December 2006 }}
* {{cite news | title = A Cretan Village that Was the Painter's Birthplace Bridles at a nearby Town's Claim |work=The Boston Globe | last = Kakissis | first = Joanna | url = http://www.boston.com/travel/articles/2005/03/06/the_root_of_the_matter__el_greco/ | date = 6 March 2005 | accessdate = 17 December 2006}}
* {{cite web | title = Cubism and El Greco (Ta Nea) | last = Katimertzi | first = Paraskevi | url = http://ta-nea.dolnet.gr/print_article.php?e=A&f=16585&m=R26&aa=1 | accessdate = 4 December 2006 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20051127194214/http://ta-nea.dolnet.gr/print_article.php?e=A&f=16585&m=R26&aa=1| archivedate = 27 November 2005}}
* {{cite news | title = Art Review; El Greco, Bearer Of Many Gifts |work=The New York Times | last = Kimmelman | first = Michael | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04E1DB173CF930A35753C1A9659C8B63 | date = 3 October 2003 | accessdate = 17 December 2006}}
* {{cite web | title = St Francis Receiving The Stigmata | last = McGarr | first = Simon | url = http://www.tuppenceworth.ie/ArtsEnt/elgreco-st-francis-receiving-the-stigmata.htm | accessdate = 24 November 2006}}
* {{cite web | title = At the National Gallery | last = Penny | first = Nicholas | url = http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n05/nicholas-penny/at-the-national-gallery | accessdate = 25 October 2006}}
* {{cite news | title = Revelations—The first Major British Retrospective of El Greco Has the Power of a Hand Grenade |work=The Guardian |location=London | url = https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2004/feb/10/1 | date = 10 February 2004 | accessdate = 17 December 2006 | first=Adrian | last=Searle}}
* {{cite web | title = El Greco's Mystical Vision | last = Romaine | first = James | url = http://oldarchive.godspy.com/culture/El-Grecos-Mystical-Vision.cfm.html | accessdate = 24 November 2006 }}
* {{cite news | title = Art View; Seeing the Art of El Greco as never before |work=New York Times | last = Russel | first = John | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE5DC1739F93BA25754C0A964948260 | date = 18 July 1982 | accessdate = 17 December 2006}}
{{refend}}
==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Aznar|first=José Camón|title=Dominico Greco|year=1950|publisher=Espasa-Calpe|location=Madrid|oclc=459049719}}
* {{cite book|last=Davies, David; Elliott, John H. (Editors); Bray, Xavier; Christiansen, Keith; [[Gabriele Finaldi|Finaldi, Gabriele]] (Contributors)|title=El Greco (catalogue)|year=2005|publisher=National Gallery|location=London|isbn=1-85709-938-9|oclc=57381521}}
* {{cite book|last=Marias|first=Fernando|title=El Greco in Toledo|year=2001|publisher=Scala|location=London|isbn=1-85759-210-7|oclc=123287031}}
* {{cite journal|last=Pallucchini|first=Rodolfo|title=II Polittico del Greco della R. Gallena Estense e la Formazione dell'Artista|language=Italian|journal=Gazzetta dell' Emilia|volume=13|pages=171–178|date=7 March 1937}}
* {{cite book|last=Prevelakis|first=Pandelis|authorlink=Pandelis Prevelakis|trans_title=Theotocópoulos—Biography|language=Greek|title=Theotokopoulos. Ta viographika. [With plates.]|year=1942|publisher=Athēna|oclc=316522253}}
* {{cite journal|last=Rice|first=David Talbot|authorlink=David Talbot Rice|title=El Greco and Byzantium|journal=The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs|volume=70|issue=406|pages=34, 38–39|date=January 1937|jstor=866725|publisher=The Burlington Magazine Publications, Ltd.|issn=0951-0788|oclc=481224103}}
{{refend}}
==External links==
{{sisterlinks|commons=category:El Greco|n=no|d=Q301|mw=no|species=no|voy=no|m=no|q=El Greco|wikt=no|b=no|s=no|v=no}}
* [http://www.artble.com/artists/el_greco El Greco – Biography, Style and Artworks]
* [http://www.el-greco-foundation.org/ El Greco – The Complete Works] at the El Greco Foundation
* [http://dominikostheotokopoulos.webnode.gr/ El Greco's Gallery]
* [http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg29/gg29-main1.html Tour: El Greco (Spanish, 1541–1614)] at the [[National Gallery of Art]]
* [http://colourlex.com/paintings/paintings-painter/greek-painters/ Greek painters (El Greco)] at ColourLex
{{El Greco}}
{{featured article}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greco, El}}
[[Category:El Greco| ]]
[[Category:1541 births]]
[[Category:1614 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century Greek people]]
[[Category:16th-century Spanish painters]]
[[Category:17th-century Greek people]]
[[Category:17th-century Spanish painters]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy]]
[[Category:Cretan Renaissance painters]]
[[Category:Former Greek Orthodox Christians]]
[[Category:Greek painters]]
[[Category:Greek Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Mannerist painters]]
[[Category:Members of the Rome Guild of Saint Luke]]
[[Category:People from Heraklion (regional unit)]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic Church painters]]
[[Category:Spanish people of Greek descent]]
[[Category:Spanish Renaissance painters]]
[[Category:Spanish Roman Catholics]]
| 