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: 62334 The Annunciation 114 x 67 cm Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid This painting is a remarkably fine reduced replica of one of El Greco's most haunting images, the Annunciation in the Prado, Madrid, that is almost three times as large. The Prado Annunciation formed the centre of the elaborate altarpiece commissioned from the artist in 1596 for the Colegio de Do?a Mar?a de Arag?n. El Greco's habit of making reduced replicas is amply documented. It is common knowledge that El Greco kept smaller, preliminary versions of almost all his works at home to show to his customers, and that he considered them finished, definitive works in themselves. Author: GRECO, El Title: The Annunciation , 1551-1600 , Spanish Form: painting , religious
