Art History

He was, and still is, considered one of the greatest late Renaissance painters of Spain. His style was colorful and imaginative, his work inspirational and easily recognizable. Famous during his own lifetime, he painted biblical scenes and religious themes. Although Domenikos Theotokopoulos, better known as “El Greco,” was one of Spain’s most beloved artists, he was not even Spanish.

Born in 1541 on the island of Crete, El Greco’s talent was recognized early on. At twenty-five Cretan records call him a master painter (WebMuseum). El Greco moved to Venice and then to Rome. Six years later he again relocated, this time to Spain. Finally, in 1577, El Greco settled permanently in Toledo, Spain.

During the sixteenth century, Toledo was a hub of the Renaissance. El Greco lived in this vibrant center of art and religion for the rest of his life. After his death, El Greco was largely forgotten. However, his unparalleled genius was rediscovered in the early 1900s.

The people of Toledo claimed Domenikos as their own, calling him “El Greco,” or “The Greek.” El Greco always signed his real Greek name on his paintings, however. Even still, the painter also married a young Spanish noblewoman by the name of Jeronima de las Cuevas. She gave birth to his illegitimate son, Jorje Manuel, who would later become a renowned Spanish architect.

El Greco’s distinctive paintings are prime examples of what is called European Mannerism. Ackland.org describes this art movement as “A style that developed in the sixteenth century as a reaction to the classical rationality and balanced harmony of the High Renaissance; characterized by the dramatic use of space and light, exaggerated color, elongation of figures, and distortions of perspective, scale, and proportion. Sister Wendy, an acclaimed art critic has said of the Mannerism master, “El Greco’s elongated figures, ever straining upward, his intense and unusual colors, his passionate involvement in his subject, his ardor and his energy, all combine to create a style that is wholly distinct and individual (Story of Painting).” One art critic compares El Greco’s distorted figures to leaping flames that “express intense religious feeling (ibiblio.org).”

Indeed, as we can see in Christ Driving the Traders From the Temple (1570), Christ seems to be the heart of a flame radiating outwards. His position, frozen in time, echoes that of the angel driving Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, seen in the stone carving behind Christ.

In The Holy Trinity (1577), El Greco shows a recently crucified Jesus in the arms of the Father, as the dove, symbolic of the Holy Spirit hovers above. From El Greco’s use of color we see that Jesus has left the darkness of the world behind for the beauty and light of Heaven.

It is in Baptism of Christ (1596), however, that we see a very classic El Greco. The long, distorted bodies are nearly ghastly, but they point upward, to the Holy Spirit in the form of the dove, and further up to the Father in the heavens. We see the red cloak over Jesus as being symbolic of his separation from God. We also see the fire descending from the Father, engulfing the dove, coming down to the Christ. This imagery is a very obvious reference to Luke 3:16m when John the Baptist (whom we see here baptizing Jesus) says, “’I baptize you with water. But One more powerful than I will come…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.’” And this is what we see here.

Undoubtedly, El Greco was one of the most imaginative, most influential painters of the 1500s. He died in 1614 and was laid to rest in the Church of St. Thome. El Greco has been called eccentric, determined, respected, and devout; surely we must add enigmatic and fantastical to this list.