By David Shelton

EL GRECO

• El Greco was born approximately around 1541 in Crete, which then was apart of the Republic of Venice.

• He soon moved to Toledo, Spain were he lived for the rest of his life and produce all of his best paintings!

LOCATION

• Moving on to Rome, El Greco opened a workshop and spent a great deal of time developing his style, using elements of both Mannerism and the Venetian Renaissance.

• The artist gained acknowledgement for his highly expressive and visionary religious works and rarely ventured away from this genre. This is Renaissance art because it shows the landscape in motion.

• (View of Toledo to the left)

PAINTINGS

• Nothing is known about his mother or his first wife, a Greek woman. El Greco's older brother, Manoussos Theotokopoulos (1531 - December 13, 1604), was a wealthy merchant and spent the last years of his life (1603-1604) in El Greco's Toledo home.

• El Greco was descended from a prosperous urban family, which had probably been driven out of Chania to Candia after an uprising against the Venetians between 1526 and 1528.

FAMILY

• It was not until after his death that El Greco's work was truly appreciated. Since the 18th century it has been valued by scholars and artists alike and has proved a great source of inspiration for many modern painters.

• El Greco had over 50,000 followers!

EL GRECO’S FOLLOWERS

• Greco was born around 1541 in Crete, which was then part of the Republic of Venice.

• Around age 35, he moved to Toledo, Spain, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life, producing his best-known paintings.

• El Greco was born Domenikos Theotokopoulos on the island of Crete, which was at the time a Venetian possession.

• El Greco died in April 7, 1614

BACK GROUND INFORMATION

CITATIONS• http://www.biography.com/people/el-greco-9319123

• http://www.elgreco.net/

• http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grec/hd_grec.htm