El Greco By Ryan Powell

El Greco “The Greek” Born in 1541 Died in 1614 Domenikos Theotocopoulos

Travels Not much is known of El Greco’s early life. He moved to Venice in 1566, where he studied under Titian. El Greco spent much of his life in Italy In 1570 he left Venice for Rome, where he was inspired by the works of Michelangelo. In 1577 he moved to Toledo, Spain, which is where he settled.

Toledo Toledo, at the time, was the religious center of Spain. Here he spent the rest of his life, and where his artistic talent grew to it’s peak. He painted The Annunciation, The Lacoon, and the Repentant Peter.

Faith in Art El Greco had a lot of religious images in his Paintings. This partially reflects the Christian influence in Spain at the time. El Greco didn’t think of himself as a craftsman, but as an artistic-philosopher. El Greco is one of the most well known Mannerist Artists in History.

Mannerism Mannerism appealed to El Greco because of the intelligence required to wield it. Mannerism arose in the mid-16th century during the High, or Italian, Renaissance. It is usually comprised of elongated figures and sharp colors.

Left Behind After his death, many of his painting where lost and forgotten. It wasn’t until the 19th century that his works were rediscovered. His works have gone on to inspire many well-known artists. Some of which are Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock.

Myth Due to the lack of knowledge about El Greco an his life, there have been some Myths about his true nature. Judging from his artistic style, a wide variety of opinions have risen. Some say he suffered from Astigmatism Some think that he was a mystic Others believe he could have been mentally insane.

Works Cited http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/greco/ http://sangha.net/messengers/el-greco.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Greco http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannerism http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/g/greco_el/biograph.html

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