Abstract
The purpose of this article is to interpret a selection of El Greco’s Italian paintings
(1560-1576) based on Bible texts in which ideas current during the Catholic Counter-
Reformation are symbolised. At the age of nineteen El Greco, who was born in Crete in
1541 and was initially an icon painter in the Byzantine tradition, went to Venice. Through
study and experiment, and by following the examples of other artists who had achieved artistic
mastery and was of proven Catholic orthodoxy, he educated himself as an artist in the
Western manner. Even during his years as an apprentice El Greco’s art is proof that he aspired
to the highest humanly accessible values exemplified by Renaissance artistic theory,
humanism and Christian spirituality — all of which later came to fruition in an unprecedented
original combination in Toledo, Spain, where he settled permanently in 1577.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:tut/oai:encore.tut.ac.za:d1001368 |
| Date | 10 July 2009 |
| Creators | Mare, AE |
| Publisher | Acta Theologica |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | |
| Rights | Acta Theologica |
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