Early years and family '' (before 1567,
tempera and gold on panel, , Holy Cathedral of the Dormition of the Virgin,
Hermoupolis,
Syros) was probably created near the end of the artist's Cretan period. The painting combines post-Byzantine and Italian mannerist stylistic and iconographic elements. Born in 1541, in either the village of
Fodele or Candia (the Venetian name of Chandax, present day
Heraklion) on
Crete, El Greco was descended from a prosperous urban family, which had probably been driven out of
Chania to Candia after an uprising against the Catholic
Venetians between 1526 and 1528. El Greco's father, Geṓrgios Theotokópoulos (; 1556), was a merchant and
tax collector. Almost nothing is known about his mother or his first wife, except that they were also
Greek. His second wife was a Spaniard. El Greco received his initial training as an
icon painter of the Cretan school, a leading center of post-
Byzantine art. In addition to painting, he probably studied the
classics of
ancient Greece, and perhaps the Latin classics also; he left a "working library" of 130 volumes at his death, including the Bible in Greek and an annotated
Vasari book. Candia was a center for artistic activity where Eastern and Western cultures co-existed harmoniously, where around two hundred painters were active during the 16th century, and had organized a
painters' guild, based on the Italian model. In 1563, at the age of twenty-two, El Greco was described in a document as a "master" ("maestro Domenigo"), meaning he was already a master of the guild and presumably operating his own workshop. Three years later, in June 1566, as a witness to a contract, he signed his name in
Greek as (; "Master Ménegos Theotokópoulos, painter"). Most scholars believe that the Theotokópoulos "family was almost certainly
Greek Orthodox", although some Catholic sources still claim him from birth. Like many
Orthodox emigrants to Catholic areas of Europe, some assert that he may have transferred to Catholicism after his arrival, and possibly practiced as a Catholic in Spain, where he described himself as a "devout Catholic" in his will. The extensive archival research conducted since the early 1960s by scholars, such as Nikolaos Panayotakis,
Pandelis Prevelakis and Maria Constantoudaki, indicates strongly that El Greco's family and ancestors were Greek Orthodox. One of his uncles was an Orthodox priest, and his name is not mentioned in the Catholic archival baptismal records on Crete. Prevelakis goes even further, expressing his doubt that El Greco was ever a practicing Roman Catholic. Important for his early biography, El Greco, still in Crete, painted his
Dormition of the Virgin near the end of his Cretan period, probably before 1567. Three other signed works of "Domḗnicos" are attributed to El Greco (
Modena Triptych,
St. Luke Painting the Virgin and Child, and
The Adoration of the Magi).
Italy , Athens). The icon, signed by El Greco ("Χείρ Δομήνιχου", Created by the hand of Doménicos), was painted in Candia on part of an old chest. '', 1568,
Museo Soumaya, Mexico City It was natural for the young El Greco to pursue his career in Venice, Crete having been a possession of the Republic of Venice since 1211. In 1570, El Greco moved to Rome, where he executed a series of works strongly marked by his Venetian apprenticeship. In Rome, on the recommendation of Giulio Clovio, El Greco was received as a guest at the
Palazzo Farnese, which
Cardinal Alessandro Farnese had made a center of the artistic and intellectual life of the city. There he came into contact with the intellectual elite of the city, including the Roman scholar
Fulvio Orsini, whose collection would later include seven paintings by the artist (
View of Mt. Sinai and a portrait of Clovio are among them). Unlike other Cretan artists who had moved to Venice, El Greco substantially altered his style and sought to distinguish himself by inventing new and unusual interpretations of traditional religious subject matter. His works painted in Italy were influenced by the
Venetian Renaissance style of the period, with agile, elongated figures reminiscent of Tintoretto and a chromatic framework that connects him to Titian. As a result of his stay in Rome, his works were enriched with elements such as violent perspective
vanishing points or strange attitudes struck by the figures with their repeated twisting and turning and tempestuous gestures, all elements of Mannerism. He singled out
Correggio and
Parmigianino for particular praise, but he did not hesitate to dismiss Michelangelo's
Last Judgment in the
Sistine Chapel; he extended an offer to
Pope Pius V to paint over the whole work in accord with the new and stricter Catholic thinking. When he was later asked what he thought about Michelangelo, El Greco replied that "he was a good man, but he did not know how to paint". However, despite El Greco's criticism, Michelangelo's influence can be seen in later El Greco works such as the
Allegory of the Holy League. By painting portraits of Michelangelo, Titian, Clovio and, presumably, Raphael in one of his works (
The Purification of the Temple), El Greco not only expressed his gratitude but also advanced the claim to rival these masters. As his own commentaries indicate, El Greco viewed Titian, Michelangelo and Raphael as models to emulate. On 6 July 1572, El Greco officially complained about this event. A few months later, on 18 September 1572, he paid his dues to the
Guild of Saint Luke in Rome as a
miniature painter. At the end of that year, El Greco opened his own workshop and hired as assistants the painters Lattanzio Bonastri de Lucignano and Francisco Preboste. At the time, Toledo was the religious capital of Spain and a populous city with "an illustrious past, a prosperous present and an uncertain future". In Rome, El Greco had earned the respect of some intellectuals, but was also facing the hostility of certain
art critics. During the 1570s the huge monastery-palace of
El Escorial was still under construction and
Philip II of Spain was experiencing difficulties in finding good artists for the many large paintings required to decorate it. Titian was dead, and Tintoretto,
Veronese and
Anthonis Mor all refused to come to Spain. Philip had to rely on the lesser talent of
Juan Fernández de Navarrete, of whose
gravedad y decoro ("seriousness and decorum") the king approved. When Fernández died in 1579, the moment was ideal for El Greco to move to Toledo. Through Clovio and Orsini, El Greco met
Benito Arias Montano, a Spanish humanist and agent of Philip;
Pedro Chacón, a clergyman; and
Luis de Castilla, son of
Diego de Castilla, the dean of the
Cathedral of Toledo. El Greco's friendship with Castilla would secure his first large commissions in Toledo. He arrived in Toledo by July 1577, and signed contracts for a group of paintings that was to adorn the
church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo in Toledo and for . By September 1579 he had completed nine paintings for Santo Domingo, including
The Trinity and
The Assumption of the Virgin. These works would establish the painter's reputation in Toledo. Indeed, he did manage to secure two important commissions from the monarch:
Allegory of the Holy League and
Martyrdom of St. Maurice. However, the king did not like these works and placed the St Maurice altarpiece in the
chapter-house rather than the intended chapel. He gave no further commissions to El Greco. The exact reasons for the king's dissatisfaction remain unclear. Some scholars have suggested that Philip did not like the inclusion of living persons in a religious scene; Philip took a close interest in his artistic commissions, and had very decided tastes; a long sought-after sculpted Crucifixion by
Benvenuto Cellini also failed to please when it arrived, and was likewise exiled to a less prominent place. Philip's next experiment, with
Federico Zuccari was even less successful. In any case, Philip's dissatisfaction ended any hopes of royal patronage El Greco may have had. According to
Hortensio Félix Paravicino, a 17th-century Spanish preacher and poet, "Crete gave him life and the painter's craft, Toledo a better homeland, where through Death he began to achieve eternal life." In 1585, he appears to have hired an assistant,
Italian painter Francisco Preboste, and to have established a workshop capable of producing
altar frames and statues as well as paintings. On 12 March 1586 he obtained the commission for
The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, now his best-known work. The decade 1597 to 1607 was a period of intense activity for El Greco. During these years he received several major commissions, and his workshop created pictorial and sculptural ensembles for a variety of religious institutions. Among his major commissions of this period were three altars for the Chapel of San José in Toledo (1597–1599); three paintings (1596–1600) for the Colegio de Doña María de Aragon, an
Augustinian monastery in Madrid, and the high altar, four lateral altars, and the painting
St. Ildefonso for the Capilla Mayor of the Hospital de la Caridad (Hospital of Charity) at
Illescas (1603–1605). Between 1607 and 1608 El Greco was involved in a protracted legal dispute with the authorities of the Hospital of Charity at Illescas concerning payment for his work, which included painting, sculpture and architecture; this and other legal disputes contributed to the economic difficulties he experienced towards the end of his life. In 1608, he received his last major commission at the Hospital of
Saint John the Baptist in Toledo. It was in these apartments, which also served as his workshop, that he spent the rest of his life, painting and studying. He lived in considerable style, sometimes employing musicians to play whilst he dined. It is not confirmed whether he lived with his Spanish female companion, Jerónima de Las Cuevas, whom he probably never married. She was the mother of his only son,
Jorge Manuel, born in 1578, who also became a painter, assisted his father, and continued to repeat his compositions for many years after he inherited the studio. In 1604, Jorge Manuel and Alfonsa de los Morales gave birth to El Greco's grandson, Gabriel, who was baptized by Gregorio Angulo, governor of Toledo and a personal friend of the artist. He was buried in the Church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo, aged 72. ==Art==