Most of us are familiar with the paintings of Domenikos Theotokopoulos (1541-1614) — though not by that name. He usually signed his work using his full name in the Greek alphabet, but he is better known as El Greco, Spanish for “the Greek.”

    His history is indicated by that nickname. He was born on the island of Crete, historically Greek in language and culture, but at that time part of the Republic of Venice. Crete was a center of post-Byzantine art, the style that flourished after the Fall of Constantinople (which had once been known as “Byzantium”) in 1453.

    After becoming proficient in that tradition, at age 26 he moved to Venice and, a few years later, to Rome, where his style evolved. He was certainly influenced by the work of Michelangelo (and said so himself), who had died just a few years before El Greco’s arrival in Rome. But he claimed to have despised the master’s style, saying, “He was a good man, but he did not know how to paint.” He even offered to paint over “Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel! The Pope declined the offer.

    After 10 years in Italy, El Greco moved to Toledo, Spain, where he continued to paint until his death. He had hoped to work in Madrid for Spanish King Philip II, but Philip was not pleased with his style, so El Greco settled in Toledo with his companion, Jerónima de Las Cuevas. They probably never married, but they had a son named Jorge Manuel in 1578, himself a painter who inherited his father’s studio and continued his work.

    El Greco’s works can be recognized in an instant by their long, thin figures and usually by the use of bright colors, like those in the religious icons of the Cretan tradition. There is a distinctly modern style to much of his work, which many of his contemporaries found hard to understand. Some scholars believe that both Expressionism and Cubism — the latter style pioneered in part by another Spanish artist, Pablo Picasso — can find their roots in the style of El Greco.

    Vocabulary:

    Which word above means:

    1. a name commonly used in place of one’s real name;

    2. hated; couldn’t stand;

    3. thrived; grew in a healthy manner;

    4. (a) moment; (a) very short time; 5. good at; skilled;

    6. beginnings; origins;

    7. when who accompanies another, like a spouse or good friend;

    8. in a clearly recognizable way;

    9. in the past; or, usually but not at one particular time;

    10. small religious paintings used in Eastern Orthodox worship