El Greco
A Greek from Crete, trained in Venice, famous in Toledo: El Greco painted flame-like, elongated figures that inspired modern artists centuries later.
Life
Domenikos Theotokopoulos was born in 1541 on Crete, then ruled by Venice, and first painted icons. Around 1567 he went to Venice, where Titian and Tintoretto shaped his art, and in 1570 on to Rome. In 1577 he settled in Toledo, the religious centre of Spain, and remained there until his death in 1614. His workshop supplied altarpieces and devotional images for churches and monasteries.
Style & technique
El Greco stretched bodies, made them flicker like flames and placed them in a restless, shimmering space. Cool, luminous colours – lemon yellow, carmine, blue-green – and a pale light make his visions almost supernatural. He combined Byzantine roots, Venetian colour and the deep piety of the Counter-Reformation.
Look closely
- The proportions: heads are small, bodies and hands very long.
- The light: it seems to come from within the figures themselves.
- The sky: clouds move like fabric or flames.
Timeline
- 1541: Born on Crete.
- c. 1567: Moves to Venice.
- 1570: On to Rome.
- 1577: Arrives in Toledo.
- 1614: Dies in Toledo.