Spain, Toledo, stretched figures, vibrant colors… All these words make El Greco come to mind – one of the greatest painters in history.

Originally a Cretan, Domenikos Theotokopoulos started his career as an icon painter. But icons were flat, lifeless, and too old fashioned, so Domenikos decided to learn the art of realistic painting. Being a Venetian citizen (Venice occupied Crete at the time) Domenikos traveled to Venice. In Venice the young painter learned all he could from masters like Titian and Tintoretto and the new art form called mannerism. One day Domenikos himself would be their equal…

After staying and studying in Venice and Rome for a while, Domenikos went to Spain were his admirers gave him the name El Greco, “The Greek”. However, throughout his life, El Greco signed his paintings with his real name (written in Greek letters) and followed by the word Kres, meaning “Cretan”. This shows that he was proud of his heritage.

While living in Spain, El Greco experienced many ups and downs. He was invited to do a painting for the king of Spain, but the king didn’t like the painting. However, other people respected El Greco, and liked his paintings, so he never ran out of orders.

Some of El Greco’s finest paintings were done while he was in Spain. Among them are: “The Burial of Count Orgaz”, “St Martin and the Beggar” and “The Martyrdom of Saint Maurice.”

El Greco’s great masterpiece, “The Burial of Count Orgaz”, in my opinion, is not only El Greco’s best, but also one of the best paintings in the world. The painting shows the death and burial of Count Orgaz, who, according to legend was laid into his tomb by the saints Augustine and Stephan, as a reward for the count’s generosity to the church. Both saints are shown dressed in finely embroidered robes, one of them wearing a papal crown. In the left corner stands a somber little boy pointing to the main scene of the painting. This is El Greco’s son, Jorge Manuel. In his pocket is a handkerchief which is inscribed with the artist’s signature and the date 1578, the year of the boy’s birth. What is magnificent about this painting, in my opinion, is the way the figures are placed about in it. The bottom is a little overcrowded, with nobles looking on at the burial taking place. However, the sky seems to go on into infinity showing higher and higher levels of heaven, with Christ at the very top in the center.

Another interesting painting is the very modern looking “Saint Martin and the Beggar”. In it, a very un-saintly looking (he’s dressed too much like a noble) St. Martin is riding on a horse, next to a beggar begging for alms. St. Martin has his sword drawn out instead of stretching out a helping hand, which seems to me like a strange thing for a saint to do. In the background, I think that El Greco has drawn his favorite city, Toledo, because the scenes look a lot like another of El Greco’s paintings: “View of Toledo”. The same stormy skies, green hills, and gloomy castles can be seen behind St. Martin and his white stallion.

But even more fascinating is the painting called “The Martyrdom of St, Maurice”, the very same piece of art which King Philip II of Spain thought was not good enough for his new palace in Madrid. El Greco’s painting was probably too modern for the time. However, in my opinion, it is very interesting, because there’s so much going on in the painting. In the center stands a crowd of bare-footed warriors in Roman legionnaire looking armor. The only person mostly facing the viewer is probably St. Maurice. I don’t think that the people in the painting are getting ready for battle, because none of them are wearing shoes. In the background, stretching into the horizon, are masses of people who look a bit like slaves, because their all dressed in rags and some have fallen to the ground either from exhaustion or, if they really are slaves, from the oppression of their captors. A question that interests me, since I don’t know the legend of St. Maurice, is why is the painting called the “Martyrdom”, if Maurice doesn’t seem to be in any kind of immediate danger?

Thus, El Greco was an excellent painter, not appreciated as much as he deserved in his own time, but considered a master in these times. His paintings were more modern then what is considered modern now, and his technique was one of the most unique and original in the history of world art. No painter has ever been able to achieve what El Greco has done.