GRECO, El
Greek-born Spanish Mannerist Painter, 1541-1614
Greek painter, designer and engraver, active in Italy and Spain. One of the most original and interesting painters of 16th-century Europe, he transformed the Byzantine style of his early paintings into another, wholly Western manner. He was active in his native Crete, in Venice and Rome, and, during the second half of his life, in Toledo. He was renowned in his lifetime for his originality and extravagance and provides one of the most curious examples of the oscillations of taste in the evaluation of a painter,
ID: 62354 Christ on the Cross Adored by Two Donors 1580 Oil on canvas Mus?e du Louvre, Paris On the painting a priest and a nobleman, probably the patrons who commissioned the painting, are shown praying before Christ on the cross. This detail shows the priest whose white surplice is similar to that worn by the priest in El Greco's Burial of the Count of Orgaz. He contemplates Christ's sacrifice with compassion and sobriety, his gaze leading our eyes upwards to Christ. Author: GRECO, El Title: Christ on the Cross Adored by Two Donors (detail) , 1551-1600 , Spanish Form: painting , religious
