El Greco (1541?-1614) was born in Iráklion (some sources say Candia) on the Grecian island of Crete. Originally named Domenikos Theotokopoulos, he went to the school of St. Catherine's Monastery. In 1570, there being no earlier documented date, El Greco arrived in Rome as an already fine artist. According to Roman contemporaries, before that he studied under Titian in Venice, learning about color. "El Greco transformed these powerful influences into his own distinctive, intensely spiritual style with its elongated forms, sweeping movement and bright, sometimes unearthly colours" (The Art Book).

In 1576, he ventured to Spain and began painting the altarpieces for the new church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo in Toledo and painted another piece for the Toledo Cathedral. El Greco's works were not well received because they were overpriced and unconventional. What the public was seeing was the development of the Mannerist style. An example is The Opening of the Fifth Seal of the Apocalypse. The National Galley of Art describes it: "Mannerism's artificiality -- its bizarre, sometimes acid color, its illogical compression of space, the elongated proportions and exaggerated anatomy of figures in convoluted, serpentine poses -- frequently creates a feeling of anxiety. Works appear strange and unsettling, despite their superficial naturalism."

Even with negativity surrounding him, El Greco still made Toledo his home and somehow remained in demand. Though information about El Greco's life is hazy, it is known that his lover was Doña Jerónima de la Cuevas who begot him a son, Jorge Manuel (b. 1578). El Greco owned three homes, one a 24-room mansion, but he owed many bills and was seemingly poor. On April 7, 1614, El Greco died in Toledo after being ill for some time. His remains were moved from one church to another; the second was torn down, and to this day no remains of El Greco, the great and controversial artist, can be found.

The softest brush ever to give soul to a panel, life to canvas.
-Luis de Gongora y Argote, Sonnet, 'A Funeral Lament to El Greco' (1614)

Just see how Theotocopoulos
Throws on his canvas
Colours of hell
-Stevie Smith, 'Spanish School'

He worked, a greater Apelles in a greater Age; applause was his, not sought; his rare distinction Ages will admire, not imitate. Crete gave him his life, and brushes; Toledo, a better land, where he begins with Death to attain Eternity.
-Fray Hortensio Paravicino y Aliaga, Sonnet, 'A Funeral Lament to El Greco' (1614)

What he did well, no one did better, and what he did poorly, no one did worse.
-Antonio Palomino, Pictorial Museum and Optical Scale (1715-24)

 

Christ on the Cross
1585-1590

Agony in the Garden
1595

View of Toledo
1597

Saint Anthony of Padua

Christ Carrying the Cross
1600-1605

The Opening of the Fifth Seal of the Apocalypse
1610-1614

Portrait of a Cardinal