The Holy Trinity (1577-1579)
The Assumption of The Virgin (1577-1579)
The Modena Triplych (1568) Tempera on panel
The Opening of The Fifth Seal (1608-1614) 
View of Toledo (c. 1596-1600)
The Burial of Count Orgaz (1586-1588)El Greco
El Greco (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 Domenicos Theotokopoulos underscoring his Greek origin. El Greco was born in Crete which was at that time part of the Republic of Venice and the center of Post-Byzantine art. El Greco received his initial training as an icon painter of the Cretan school.
In 1570, El Greco moved to Rome where he executed a series of works strongly marked by his Venetian apprenticeship. Unlike other Cretan artists who had moved to Venice, El Greco substantially altered his style and sought to distinguish himself by inventing new and unusual interpretations of traditional religious subject matter. In 1577, El Greco emigrated first to Madrid, then to Toledo, where he produced his mature works.
The primacy of imagination and intuition over the subjective character of creation was a fundamental principle of El Greco's style. El Greco discarded classical criteria such as measure and proportion. He believed that grace is the supreme quest of art, but the painter achieves grace only if he manages to solve the most complex problems with obvious ease. El Greco regarded color as the most important and the most ungovernable element of painting and declared that color had primacy over form. He died on April 7, 1614.
Tags: Timeless Masterpieces, Great Masters, El Greco, Post-Byzantine Art, Spanish Rennaisance, Greece, Venice, Rome, Crete, Madrid, Toledo, Spain, Icon
Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
