In Venice El Greco worked under Titian; he was much influenced by Tintoretto and the Bassano . He was in Rome in 1570 and studied the work of Michelangelo and Raphael. As a native of Crete he was deeply influenced by Byzantine art.
How did El Greco began his career?
El Greco first appeared in Spain in the spring of 1577, initially at Madrid, later in Toledo. One of his main reasons for seeking a new career in Spain must have been knowledge of Philip II’s great project, the building of the monastery of San Lorenzo at El Escorial, some 26 miles (42 km) northwest of Madrid.
Who created El Greco?
Megan Rapinoe. In Toledo, El Greco met Diego de Castilla , the dean of the Toledo Cathedral, who commissioned El Greco to paint a group of works for the altar of the church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo (such as The Trinity and The Assumption of the Virgin, both 1579).
Is El Greco a mannerist painter?
It was commissioned by the parish priest of Santo Tomé in Toledo, and is considered to be a prime example of Mannerism. Along with Tintoretto, Agnolo Bronzino, Jacopo da Pontormo, and others, El Greco is considered one of the main Mannerist artists . ... El Greco referred to this painting as his ‘sublime work.
What religion was El Greco?
Prevelakis goes even further, expressing his doubt that El Greco was ever a practicing Roman Catholic . Important for his early biography, El Greco, still in Crete, painted his Dormition of the Virgin near the end of his Cretan period, probably before 1567.
Did El Greco have a good life?
He enjoyed a stable social life , and was close friends with various scholars, intellectuals, writers, and churchmen. Between 1597 and 1607, he enjoyed his most active period of commissions, being contracted to paint for several chapels and monasteries simultaneously.
What does El Greco translate to?
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English El Grec‧o /ˌel ˈɡrekəʊ/ (1541–1614) a Spanish artist known for his religious paintings. He was called El Greco, which means ‘the Greek ‘, because he was born in Crete.
What colors did El Greco use?
El Greco’s Color
El Greco thought of color as a means to differentiate between the earthy and the heavenly. He used high intensity colors when depicting saints and angels , but low-intensity colors for his subjects still bound to this earth.
Who did El Greco marry?
It was in Toledo that El Greco also found love — perhaps for a second time. He had a relationship with a woman identified in some court documents as Jeronima de las Cuevas, but he never married her . Urban legend in Toledo says Jeronima was a prostitute, or a nun — and thus El Greco couldn’t marry her.
What is El Greco most important painting?
The Burial of the Count of Orgaz (El entierro del conde de Orgaz) This large painting, three and half meters wide by almost five meters high, is universally regarded as El Greco’s greatest masterpiece and most famous work.
Is El Greco a baroque?
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.
What is El Greco’s real name?
Domenikos Theotokopoulos , known as El Greco, ‘The Greek’, was born in Crete, which was then a Venetian possession. El Greco trained in Venice, where he developed his intense, colourful Mannerist style.
