El Greco Painter, Sculptor, and Architect of the Spanish Renaissance. 1541 - 1614 Music : El Greco (Movement III) by Vangelis Click to advance

El Greco ("The Greek" 1541 – April 7, 1614) was a painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. He usually signed his paintings in Greek letters with his full name, Doménicos Theotokópoulos (Greek: Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ), underscoring his Greek origin. El Greco was born in Crete, which was at that time part of the Republic of Venice, and the centre of Post-Byzantine art. He trained and became a master within that tradition before travelling at age 26 to Venice, as other Greek artists had done. In 1570 he moved to Rome, where he opened a workshop and executed a series of works. During his stay in Italy, El Greco enriched his style with elements of Mannerism and of the Venetian Renaissance. In 1577 he moved to Toledo, Spain, where he lived and worked until his death. In Toledo, El Greco received several major commissions and produced his best known paintings. El Greco's dramatic and expressionistic style was met with puzzlement by his contemporaries but found appreciation in the 20th century. El Greco is regarded as a precursor of both Expressionism and Cubism, while his personality and works were a source of inspiration for poets and writers such as Rainer Maria Rilke and Nikos Kazantzakis. El Greco has been characterized by modern scholars as an artist so individual that he belongs to no conventional school. He is best known for tortuously elongated figures and often fantastic or phantasmagorical pigmentation, marrying Byzantine traditions with those of Western painting.

El Espolio ( The spoliation, Christ Stripped of His Garments) 1577-79 Oil on canvas, 285 x 173 cm; Sacristy of the Cathedral of Toledo

The Holy Trinity 1577 Paint on canvas Museo del Prado, Madrid

The Adoration of the Name of Jesus ca. 1577-1579 Oil on canvas

Christ on the Cross Adored by Donors 1585-90 Canvas Museé du Louvre , Paris

The Burial of the Count of Orgaz 1586-1588 oil on canvas Santo Tom é , Toledo Spain

View of Toledo c. 1597 Oil on canvas The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

St. Martin and the Beggar 1597-99 Oil on canvas National Gallery of Art , Washington

Madonna and Child with St. Martina and St. Agnes 1597-99 Oil on canvas National Gallery of Art, Washington

Baptism of Christ 1597-1600 Oil on canvas Museo del Prado, Madrid

Christ Driving the Traders from the Temple 1600 Oil on canvas

The Repentant Peter c. 1600 Oil on canvas The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C

Portrait of a Cardinal -probably Cardinal Nino de Guevarac -1600 Oil on canvas The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Saints John the Evangelist and Francis 1600 Oil on canvas Uffizi

Christ Carrying the Cross 1600-05 Oil on canvas; Prado, Madrid

Portrait of Jorge Manuel Theotocopoulos 1600–1605 Oil on canvas Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes , Seville

Apostle St. John the Evangelist, 1606

The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, between 1608 and 1613 Oil on canvas

The opening of the Fifth Seal of the Apocalypse 1608-1614 Oil on canvas The Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York City

Baptism of Christ 1608-14 Oil on canvas Hospital de San Juan Bautista de Afuera, Toledo

Laocoon - 1610

View and Plan of Toledo - Painting - 1610-1614

The Adoration of the Shepherds 1612-14 Oil on canvas Museo del Prado, Madrid

Portrait of Giorgio Giulio Clovio, the earliest surviving portrait from El Greco c. 1570, Oil on canvas, Museo di Capodimonte, Naples

The Annunciation Paint on board Museo del Prado, Madrid

The Knight with His Hand on His Breast Oil on canvas Museo del Prado, Madrid

The Dormition of the Virgin (before 1567, tempera and gold on panel, 61,4 × 45 cm) Holy Cathedral of the Dormition of the Virgin, Hermoupolis, Syros- Greece

The Redemptor 1610-14 Canvas oil painting Toledo , Greco Museum

« Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος (Doménicos Theotocópoulos) εποία (epoia) ». The words El Greco used to sign his paintings. El Greco appended after his name the word "epoia" ( εποία , "he made it") . In The Assumption the painter used the word "deixas" ( δείξας , "he displayed it") instead of "epoia". The End Thank you !