El Greco
(b Candia [now Herakleion], Crete, c. 1541; d
Toledo, 7 April 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, and of the
changes of interpretation to which an artist’s work can be submitted.
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The Adoration of the Name of Jesus
1578-80
Oil and tempera on pine panel, 55,1 x 33,8 cm (excluding the
painted black border)
National Gallery, London
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