El Greco - Cretan Painter

El Greco:

The first painting I ever really wanted to buy was El Greco's 'Storm Over Toledo'. I saw a beautiful color plate reproduction of it and there was something so hopeful and reviving about the work that it just grabbed every inch of my attention. I thought, "Oh man, I'd like to have this around the house." But I think the Metropolitan Museum in New York might probably have a slight problem with that, especially given my limited budget.

Early Life:

Unlike many artists, whose names seem ready-made-for-success – think Matisse, Cezanne, Picasso, Magritte, etc, - El Greco was born with the tongue-twisting handle of Domenikos Theotokopoulos. He got the nickname 'El Greco' much later on in life from language-challenged Spaniards. We must thank them. Having to continually say 'I own a Domenikos Theotokopoulos Reproduction' is kind of hard on the boasting chords. El Greco, however, was proud of his Cretan origin and always signed his name in Grecian letters on his paintings.

El Greco was born in 1541 in Candia, Crete, and lived here until his mid-twenties, but not much is known about his youth or where he trained to be an artist. It is known though that his early art career involved producing religious icons, and he was good enough to be referred in an official document of the time as 'Master Painter'. One of his works 'Dormition of the Virgin' has survived at the Church of the Koimesis tis Theotokou in Syros.

At the time Crete was part of the Venetian Republic and as Venice offered more opportunities than were available in Candia, El Greco, like many of his compatriots, moved there.

Art Studies in Venice:

On his arrival in Venice, El Greco worked for a while at producing religious icons. But he was not content to restrict himself to this. The exciting cultural and cosmopolitan atmosphere of sea-faring Venice filled him with a strong urge to learn more, become more. In the two years that he lived in the city, he saw and studied the works of the leading Venetian painters like Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto. Apparently he also worked for a while in Titian's workshop.

Roma:

After leaving Venice, El Greco went to Rome. It was 1570 and Michelangelo had died only six years before and Pope Pius V was thinking of desecrating his memory already by having someone paint loin-cloths onto the nude figures of the 'Last Judgment'. There is a story about El Greco being offered this undertaking and his offering to paint over the frescoes entirely instead – I mean, why leave anything to the imagination? The Pope seems to have got the hint and left him out of the project.

In Rome, El Greco stayed with Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, whom he had met through his friend Giulio Clovio, at the scrumptious Palazzo Farnese and came into daily contact with all the leading intellectuals of the city.

One of the excellent paintings of the Roman Period is 'Portrait of Giulio Clovio'. Clovio was a well-regarded Croatian Painter of Miniatures. El Greco shows him with a book of Miniatures, seated by a window that opens out on a stormy landscape.

El Greco's paintings brought him to the attention of Diego de Castilla, Dean of Canons at Toledo Cathedral, and he invited him to come and work in Toledo.

Toledo:

So, after six years in Rome, El Greco went to the Spanish city of Toledo in 1577. This had been the capital of Spain some dozen years before his arrival, and was still the bastion of the powerful Spanish Church and a very important business center. It was prosperous, culturally-refined, and intellectually stimulating.

El Greco liked it so much he decided to stay on a bit, then got into a serious relationship, produced a son, and ended up remaining in Toledo for the rest of his life.

Career:

El Greco had already made a name for himself as an artist in Rome and, with his intelligence and talent, he became even more popular in Toledo. Soon after his arrival he'd been entrusted with the challenging task of creating an altarpiece 'The Assumption of the Virgin' for the Church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo, and soon afterwards 'The Despoiling of Christ' for Toledo Cathedral. Many more such commissions followed. Although he never managed to gain the patronage of the Spanish Royalty, he was much sought after by the Spanish aristocracy as a portrait painter. He was also in demand in society as a learned and philosophical man.

Some say that the success went to his head and that's why we hear of his three-membered family, along with an entourage of six or seven students and assistants, living more lavishly than they could really afford in a 24-roomed palace, with hired musicians egging on their appetites at every meal.

Famous Artworks:

El Greco painted many masterpieces in Toledo. Aside from the aforementioned 'Storm Over Toledo' and many beautiful realistic portraits like 'Lady in a Fur Wrap', which, incidentally, is supposed to be of his partner Jeronima de las Cuevas, his noteworthy works include 'The Martyrdom of St. Maurice', 'St. Peter in Tears', 'The Burial of Count Orgaz', 'Laocoon', etc.

While El Greco's earlier works show the imprint of the Renaissance and Mannerist schools, his Toledo paintings are in entirely his own distinct style. For most part, this constituted of coldly vivid colors and strangely elongated forms quivering dramatically with an intense, tormented spirituality.

Naturally, in search of meaning and understanding, this has led to many modern-day speculations regarding his mental health. A bit unfair, I think. Nobody dubbed Picasso mad for the odd portraits of Dora Maar.

End:

El Greco's last years were not very good. He lost his fortune, was involved in frequent litigations with his patrons regarding payments for work done, and was in dire financial troubles and lingering ill-health. He died on 7 April 1614 and was initially buried in the Church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo. As his family apparently did not have enough money, his son Jorge Manuel, also a painter, was asked to submit paintings by way of payment. Jorge Manuel doesn't seem to have taken to the idea – the Church couldn't get him to paint, so, on the principal of no money, no dice, they exhumed his father's body and had it reburied in the unremarkable San Torcuato monastery. Later the monastery and along with it all traces of the mortal El Greco were destroyed. The Church seems to have reconsidered things since he became famous and all in modern times and has put up a commemorative marker.