Biography el greco spain

El Greco was born around in Crete, which was then part of the Republic of Venice. In his mid-twenties, he traveled to Venice and studied under Titian, who was the most renowned painter of his day. Around age 35, he moved to Toledo, Spain, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life, producing his best-known paintings. His works from this period are seen as precursors of both Expressionism and Cubism.

He is remembered chiefly for his elongated, tortured figures, often religious in nature, the style of which baffled his contemporaries but helped establish his reputation in the years to come. El Greco was born Domenikos Theotokopoulos on the island of Crete, which was at the time a Venetian possession. Under Titian, El Greco began mastering the fundamental aspects of Renaissance painting—e.

El Greco moved to Rome from Venice after a time, remaining from to , staying initially in the palace of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, one of the most influential and wealthy individuals in Rome.

What was el greco known for

In Madrid, El Greco tried to secure royal patronage from King Philip II, but to no avail, so he moved on to Toledo, where he finally began to find the success history would remember and where he would paint his masterpieces. Unfortunately, the price El Greco demanded for The Disrobing of Christ led to a dispute, and he never received another comparable commission from Castilla again.

Regardless of where commissions now came from, El Greco embarked on a wildly successful career in Toledo and produced such landmark works as St.