El Greco

El Greco was of Greek decent but he embraced life as a Spaniard. El Greco's art epitomized the religious spirit and emotion of Spain during the late sixteenth century. There is no better example of this then in El Greco's most famous work, Burial of the Count of Orgaz. This work is not only the best example of El Greco's unique style but also a local tradition that shows the importance of the Church in Spain. Having seen this piece of art in its original location, I was taken over by the emotion, the unique style and history behind it. El Greco shows qualities of many art movements including Mannerism, Byzantine, Renaissance and Counter Reformation but he a certain style all unique to his own.

El Greco or Domenicos Theotocopoulos was born on the isle of Crete in the year 1541, which at the time was a part of the Republic of Venice. When he was young men, he traveled to Venice to learn and practice art. El Greco had spent some time in Titian's workshop, received some of his principles including the great use color. Later El Greco spent some time in Rome, where he met some church officials from Toledo. He decides to make a move the small Spanish town of Toledo, where he spent the rest of his life until 1614. El Greco showed his love for the town by painting a landscape of the Toledo, which was titled Toledo. He received most of his commissions from the church, which earned him a reputation among the local nobility. He then was able to produce numerous portraits for the nobility.

El Greco received a Byzantine influence from his early life in Crete. In his time in Italy, he received a great education in the Renaissance style, such as Michelangelo's shading in skin tones, Titian's color and the Mannerist movement. However the most important influence to El Greco style was the religious zeal present in Catholic Spain. The counter-reformation was response by the Catholic Church to the Protestant reformation. This response created an art away from classical events from the Renaissance to an emotional and didactic art often containing religious content of both the Old and the New Testament. The mannerist style is often elongates, exaggerate, and contort the human body. This mannerist style is definitely present in El Greco's works. Most of his figures are elongated and he is best known for his hand gestures. He has signature position of a hand that he often used in portraits, with the middle and ring fingers together, while the other fingers are apart. El Greco put a lot of importance in color rather than form and proportion. He often painted using triangles.

El Greco's most highly regarded work is without a doubt, Burial of the Count of Orgaz, (1586-1588). The painting was done oil on canvas and the size of 15 ft 9 in. by 11 ft 10 in. The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, was commissioned by the Catholic Church, specifically the Church of Santa TomÐ"©, in Toledo, Spain. The Burial of the Count of Orgaz was erected for the burial chapel of Gonzalo Ruiz, the Count of Orgaz. Both the Count and El Greco attended the same church, Santa TomÐ"©, but hundreds of years apart. This painting represents a tribute to the Count of Orgaz and the Miracle that took place at his burial.

According local tradition at the burial of the count, two saints, Saint Stephen and Saint Augustine descended from Heaven to place the Count into his burial place, inside the church. At the time of the Count's death in 1323, he was known as philanthropist in Toledo, especially to Santa TomÐ"©.

Based on the first glance of the Burial of the Count of Orgaz, there is an obvious separation between the Heavens above and the terrestrial below where the miracle is occurring. . The heads of the nobility of Toledo create a line that makes it distention between the two worlds so straightforward. Despite the obvious distinction, the separation; distance is almost nonexistent, even containing some overlap between the worlds. Items like the torches and the cross that extend into the Heavens and two of figures looking above connects the dimensions. The nobility of Toledo depicted here are the men of El Greco's era and not of the Count's time. This is shown by the attire the white lace collar and solid black robes, common during the late sixteenth century. El Greco paid tribute toward the financial backers the nobility, clergy, priests and others who showed their interest in his art by immortalizing them in is masterpiece.