Artist

El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos)

El Greco prints bring the flame-like figures and stormy, luminous colour of one of the most original painters in history into your home. Born on Crete, trained in Venice and Rome, and settled in Toledo, El Greco forged a style so personal that it puzzled...Read more

El Greco prints bring the flame-like figures and stormy, luminous colour of one of the most original painters in history into your home. Born on Crete, trained in Venice and Rome, and settled in Toledo, El Greco forged a style so personal that it puzzled his own age and inspired Picasso and the Expressionists centuries later. Our collection of fine art prints includes his saints and apostles, religious scenes, portraits and views of Toledo.

About El Greco

Doménikos Theotokópoulos was born in 1541 in Candia, now Heraklion, on Crete, then ruled by Venice. His father was a merchant and tax collector. He trained as an icon painter in the Cretan school of post-Byzantine art and became a master before travelling, at about 26, to Venice.

In Italy he absorbed the colour of Titian and the dramatic movement of Tintoretto, and in 1570 he moved to Rome, where he opened a workshop. In 1577 he went to Spain, hoping for work at the court of Philip II. The king commissioned two paintings from him but disliked them, so El Greco stayed in Toledo, then the religious capital of Spain, where he had been welcomed as a great painter.

He lived and worked in Toledo for the rest of his life, renting a large set of rooms that also served as his workshop. There he produced his best-known paintings, such as The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, View of Toledo and Opening of the Fifth Seal. He fell ill while working on a commission for the Hospital de Tavera and died on 7 April 1614. He wrote his name on his paintings in Greek letters, often adding the word for "Cretan".

Style and Subjects

El Greco's figures are long and flame-like, their bodies stretched upward, their hands expressive, their faces pale and intense. Colours are strange and vivid: acid yellows, cool greens, deep crimsons and silvery greys, under skies full of storm clouds and light.

His style joins Byzantine icon painting with Venetian colour and Roman Mannerism, but it belongs to no school. He set out to dramatise rather than describe, and his spiritual intensity made him a hero to modern artists.

Famous Works

The Disrobing of Christ (El Expolio) (1577–1579), Toledo Cathedral. Christ in a blazing red robe among a crowd of soldiers, one of his first Toledo works.
The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest (about 1580), Museo del Prado, Madrid. A Toledo gentleman in black with a gold sword hilt, one of his best-known portraits.
The Burial of the Count of Orgaz (1586), Church of Santo Tomé, Toledo. Saints lower the count into his tomb while heaven opens above.
View of Toledo (about 1596–1600), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The city under a stormy green and grey sky, one of the most famous landscapes in Western art.
Saint Martin and the Beggar (1597–1599), National Gallery of Art, Washington. The young saint on a white horse cuts his cloak for a beggar.
Fray Hortensio Félix Paravicino (1609), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A portrait of his friend, the preacher and poet.
Laocoön (about 1610–1614), National Gallery of Art, Washington. The Trojan priest and his sons fight serpents before a view of Toledo.

Decorating with El Greco Prints

El Greco's paintings are intense and work best where they have room: a hallway, stairwell, study or library, against plain walls in white, stone or deep red. View of Toledo is the most versatile, suiting living rooms and offices as well as traditional and modern interiors.

His single saints and apostles, such as Saint Peter in Tears, make powerful pictures for a quiet room or a series along a corridor. Dark wood or black frames suit their dramatic colour.

FAQ

Why is he called El Greco?

El Greco means "the Greek" in Spanish, a nickname from his years in Spain. He was born Doménikos Theotokópoulos on Crete and wrote his name on his work in Greek letters.

What is El Greco's most famous painting?

The Burial of the Count of Orgaz (1586) in Toledo and View of Toledo in the Metropolitan Museum of Art are his most famous works.

What art movement was El Greco part of?

He worked in the Spanish Renaissance and drew on Mannerism and Venetian painting, but his style is so personal that scholars say he belongs to no conventional school. He is seen as a forerunner of Expressionism and Cubism.

Why are El Greco's figures so elongated?

Long, flame-like figures were part of his deliberately expressive style, which aimed to convey spiritual emotion rather than describe the world exactly.

Where can I see El Greco's paintings?

Toledo has many, including The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. Others are in the Prado in Madrid, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington.