El Greco

1
El Greco

• Travel Spain
• Geography 399
• Winter 2005

2
El Greco The Greek

• Self-portrait
• 1541-1614, b. Crete
• Dubious family background traders, tax
  collectors
• Little is known about his apprenticeship
• By 1563 considered a master painter

3
Europe End of 15th Century
4
Temperamental Artist?

• No interest in religious confraternities
• Or guilds
• Or Spanish culture
• Studied, meditated, theorized about art

5
Expressionistic Style

• Strong emotional impact
• Exaggerated brushstrokes, color
• Disjointed space
• Line, color, form legitimate subject matter

6
Religious Paintings

• The Holy Family
• 1594-1604
• Oil on canvas,
• 107 x 69 cm
• Museo del Prado, Madrid

7
Style Hallmarks

• The Repentant Magdalen
• c. 1577
• Oil on canvas
• Worcester Art Museum
• Worcester, MA

8
Sculpture

• Venus and Vulcan
• Polychromed wood
• height 42 cm
• Conde de la Infantas
• Collection, Granada

9
View of Toledo
1597-99 Oil on canvas 121.3 x 108.6
cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
10
As an Artist

• Philosopher
• Excessive desire for originality
• Mental infirmity, Or
• Astigmatism
• Critics both dislike, revere his work