El Greco

The last great master of the Renaissance, Domenikos Theotokopoulos (1541-1614), known as El Greco, 'The Greek', holds a singular place in the history of art. Born in Crete, trained in the Byzantine tradition, El Greco continued his apprenticeship in Italy, in contact with Venetian aesthetics and Roman mannerism. It was in Spain, where he settled in the 1570s and where he imported his Italian influences (Titian, Tintoretto, Michelangelo) that he revealed the extent of his talents. In Toledo, he painted both secular and altar paintings, such as his masterpiece, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.