Domenikos Theotocopoules, commonly referred to as El Greco was born in 1541 on the island of Crete. He acquired the name El Greco after moving to Italy when he was 30 years old. It was a common practice to call a man after the country or city of the man's origin. Not much is known about the younger years of his life besides the fact that he studied the Byzantine style of art in a monastery. He was trained as an icon painter and as a result the Byzantine art theory was too deeply ingrained in him for it to ever leave his painting. Domenikos hoped to be a great painter and as any aspiring artist would, he traveled to Venice when he was 27 to study Venetian art theory. By that time Domenikos had acquired the name El Greco and that is how he was to be referred to for the rest of his life. El Greco strongly wanted to break out of the Byzantine style of painting which had a lack of movement, human expression, and background. He studied with Titian and Tintoretto and his early pieces began to show a change in style but were strong with the Byzantine influence. After four years of study in Venice el Greco still wanted to become greater and moved to Rome. He was very interested in Michelangelo's idea of Mannerism which scorned the practice of realism and proportion. After spending some time studying with Julio Clovio El Greco started to put some emotion in faces and more action and movement in human forms. Although El Greco had great respect for the Renaissance master he thought he could to better and offered to repaint Michelangelo's "Last Judgment". Even though The artist had been dead for four years this enraged the people of Rome who considered Michelangelo to be their champion and basically asked El Greco to leave the city. After leaving Rome El Greco's travels led him to Toledo, the historic capital of Spain. This was to remain El Greco's main residence for the rest of his life. When El Greco arrived in Toledo his style was still very Italian but later on started to combine the styles of Tintoretto and Michelangelo. El Greco was very i interested in Royal attention and seized an opportunity after the king of Spain commissioned a scene of the "Martyrdom of Saint Maurice". Unfortunately, El Greco's rendition did not meet the requirements of the Counter-Reformation. The King did not like the painting in the least and El Greco lost his final chance of royal elevation. El Greco returned to Toledo and decided to make it his only home. After many years of painting in Toledo El Greco received many commissions and made many friends of one included his wife. Close to nothing is known about her, there are no marriage records, but there is evidence that they bore a son named Jorge. Both his wife and son appear in many of his paintings such as "The burial of Count Orgaz" and "Lady in a Fur Wrap". After a while the strange and new ideas of El Greco were starting to get accepted even though the painting style scorned depth and perception which were commonly known Renaissance values. El Greco made quite a bit of money off of his commissions but he greatly enjoyed living in luxury and and used it up on fine dining and hired musicians. It is said that El Greco actually wanted to break away from the Renaissance style and create his own technique. Some say that near the end of El Greco's life he started to lose his sanity because his paintings became increasingly nightmarish and even violent. El Greco's insatiable love for Toledo is shown by his passion for showing in it in many backgrounds of paintings including"Laocoön". On April 12, 1614, El Greco died a peaceful death in his beloved city of Toledo.

http://www.onlinekunst.de/frieden/greco_franziskus_det.jpg

http://www.thecityreview.com/elgrec5.jpg

"The Adoration of the Name of Jesus"

The Adoration of the Name of Jesus was finished in 1578 and is said do be a dream of King Phillip the second. It was also painted for King Phillip. It is an allegory to the Holy league. All kneel in adoration of Jesus' holy name which is represented by the letters I.H.S. There is a representation of Heaven above, purgatory below, and the gaping jaws off hell swallowing up sinners and infidels. The holy league was an alliance between the Doge of Venice, the Pope, And the king of Spain all who kneel before Jesus' holy name. It is 140cm by 110cm and it is currently in the Monastery of Saint Lorenzo.

"The Adoration of the Name of Jesus" is a truly beautiful piece that captures many values of the Renaissance. Even though El Greco sometimes tried to break away from the classic Renaissance style the themes along with those of Byzantine art are still present. The vivid color, the impression of being three dimensional, and the theme of realism are all classic characteristics, However, the elongated forms and the lack of proportion give proof to El Greco's desire to create his own style. El Greco was perhaps on of the artists that advanced the most in their ability and creativity. To start as a painter by painting religious icons and excelling to become one of the most influential late Renaissance artists is truly amazing. It is easy to see how he advanced as a painter. His first paintings (besides those of the icons) were starting to obtain realism and vibrant color but they were very crude compared to those that he would later create and also to those of the other Renaissance painters in that time. He repainted a few of his earlier paintings to better them with his improved style. One of them was "Christ Cleansing the Temple"

http://www.flholocaustmuseum.org/history_wing/assets/room1/christtemple_elgreco.jpg

The Adoration of the Name of Jesus is a painting that displays the height of El Greco's artistic ability. What is interesting is that El Greco painted during the late Renaissance period and the Counter-Reformation period , but tried to avoid both styles. He painted with Mannerism which tried to divert from realism. It is wonderful how El Greco combines all of these ideas to create a new and truly magnificent style of his own.

http://gallery.euroweb.hu/art/g/greco_el/1576-80/08dream.jpg

Although the human forms look mostly realistic there is a subtle and odd distortion in their faces and in their movement. There is quite a bit of vibrant color, but there is also a lot of dark eerie colors as well. There is definately balance between the three sections of the painting (Heaven at the top, Purgatory in the middle, and Hell at the very bottom). Circles also add an air of balance in the painting. The focal point is obviously the name of Jesus and everything else in the painting is centered around it. There is a religious context which plays back to El Greco's history with Byzantine art but there are also other themes such as humanism that largely define the painting.

Bibliography

Bronstein, Leo. El Greco. Concise ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1996.

Davies, David, and John H. Elliott. London: National Gallery Company Limited, 2003.

El Greco; Portrait of an Artist. Dir. Yvon Gerault. Videocassette. Home Vision, 1982.