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Visitation Group | Art for Advent 4C

Luke 1:39-40 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

Visitation Group
Visitation Group
1211-25
Stone
Cathedral, Reims
GOTHIC SCULPTOR, French
(active c. 1211-1225)
Click image for more information.

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Commentary by Hovak Najarian

Annunciation and Visitation (Jamb Figures of the Central Portal), Stone, c. 1225-1245, Unknown Sculptors, Cathedral of Notre Dame de Reims, France

During the Gothic Period (the late middle ages) churches increased greatly in size.  Stained glass and sculpture was used extensively and the three west facing entrances (portals) were enriched with statues and ornamentation.  The central portal was always the largest and all three were recessed.  The placement of relief sculpture on the jambs (columns that support the arch over the portals) began during the Romanesque period and the tradition continued in Gothic cathedrals.  As people entered a church they walked past a receiving line of larger than life stone figures that depicted saints, church dignitaries, and heavenly beings.  On the right side of the central portal of the cathedral at Reims the Archangel Gabriel is standing next to Mary; bringing news that she is to be the mother of Christ.  To their right, two pregnant women, Elizabeth and Mary are visiting.

At first, portal figures were carved out of the same stone as the jambs.  These figures called statue columns have almost no form to their bodies and   their robes hang as though they are covering a post.  Changes took place during the “High Gothic” period, however, and at Reims, the figures have discernable human forms; their facial expressions communicate feelings.  Archangel Gabriel’s head is tilted toward Mary and there is a smile on his face.  Mary’s face suggests she is thinking about all that is to come in the future.  Parts of some of the arms have broken but it can be seen that gestures are being used to convey meaning.  This also was a time when liberation of sculpture from the wall was taking place.  Although at Reims the figures are still in relief, they are in “high relief” and almost free from the column.  Reims Cathedral was started in the early thirteenth century and work on it continued until the early Renaissance in the fifteenth century.

Note

The term “Gothic” (in the manner of the Goths) was not in use during the “Gothic Period.”  This term began to be used during the Renaissance.  The tribes that sacked Rome – the Goths – were regarded to be barbaric and uncultured.  Thus the term, “Gothic,” in reference to the time period when cathedrals were built, was intended as a derogatory term.  From the viewpoint of a Renaissance classicist, the cathedrals were monstrous, disorderly, and barbarous in form.

All large churches are not cathedrals.  The term for a bishop’s throne is “cathedra,” therefore, the bishop’s church, the church in which the bishop’s chair is located, is called a “cathedral.”  One of the largest churches in the world, St. Peter’s in Rome is not a cathedral.  St. John Lateran’s Basilica is the Cathedral of the Diocese of Rome.

Many cathedrals are laid out to have an east-west axis; the facade and portals facing west and the altar facing east.  Inside the church, a congregation faces the direction of the sunrise which is associated with Christ’s ascension.  Even in churches where the axis is not in an east-west direction the altar end often is referred to as being “East.”

Hovak Najarian © 2012

Saint John the Baptist | Art for Advent 3C

Luke 3:16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Saint John the Baptist (preaching)
Saint John the Baptist (preaching),
bronze sculptuer, by Auguste Rodin
Click image for more information.

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Commentary by Hovak Najarian

St. John the Baptist Preaching, 1878, Bronze, Auguste Rodin, 1840 -1917

Painting is physically easier than carving a block of stone or casting bronze; because of this, a sculptor is less likely to take exploratory chances when so much physical work is required. After the Renaissance, painters tried many new directions but sculptors tended to become conservative (an exception being Gianlorenzo Bernini during the Baroque Period) and they often followed styles set by painters and architects. During the latter part of the nineteenth century, however, French artist, Auguste Rodin, restored vitality to sculpture almost single handedly. He was a contemporary of the Impressionists but his work was not in a particular style. Instead, it was a synthesis of the best qualities of sculpture found throughout history.

Before Rodin was able to support himself as a sculptor, he spent many years creating decorative pieces while working for others. Income from a job opportunity in Belgium (he was there six years) enabled him to save money for a visit to Italy. In Italy, he saw the works of Donatello and Michelangelo and he was determined to devote full-time to sculpture when he returned. Rodin’s first piece after his return to Belgium, “The Age of Bronze,” did not fit the stilted neo-classical taste of the critics of his day and they accused him of making molds from his model’s body rather than modeling the clay. After returning to Paris in the following year, a rough, hairy, Italian man appeared at his studio and offered to model for him. Upon seeing him, Rodin recalled; “I immediately thought of a Saint John the Baptist, in other words, a man of nature, a visionary, a believer, a precursor who came to announce one greater than himself.” The model, without instructions, disrobed, went to the modeling stand and stood firmly with legs spread (“like a compass” Rodin would later say). The pose surprised and pleased Rodin who added a further touch by having an arm extended to indicate a gesture as John the Baptist was moving forward while preaching. In order not to be accused again for making molds directly from the model, Rodin made this figure larger than life.

When Rodin was a young man his sister’s death troubled him and he sought solace for two years in a monastery. Biblical subjects, however, were not a major part of his life’s work. During the late nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth century, the use of biblical themes in art diminished as artists dealt with problems of form and social issues. Other than “John the Baptist,” Rodin made several works relating to religious themes (e.g. “The Hand of God” and “The Gates of Hell”).

Note

Two bronzes were sculpted and donated to St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church by the late Francis Rich, who was a member briefly until she moved to Arizona. One bronze is a life-sized “St. Francis” and the other a small “St. Margaret.” The smaller piece was made specifically for St. Margaret’s, Palm Desert. Francis Rich studied sculpture in Paris for two years with Malvina Hoffman and also studied sculpture with Carl Milles at Cranbrook Academy of Art. Both Hoffman and Milles were students of Rodin.

Hovak Najarian © 2012

Against the brutal urge

butterfly-in-the-hand02a

As day dawns in California details continue to emerge about the brutality of yet another mass shooting in our nation. The lament that this is becoming too “normal” is gaining volume. When will our leaders hear the lament?

Prayers multiply. Action to reign in gun violence by gun control has yet to reach the ‘tipping point’ and yet it is the hope and the work of many more each day: to be the voice, to join the work, that begins to control the proliferation of arms in our neighborhoods and communities; it is the further hope of many to be the voice and join the work of nurturing dignity, respect, and peace in our neighborhoods and communities.

How about you, what do you hear? What is the movement of the Spirit within you?

Here is one Pastor’s Response:

Dearly Beloved,

Grace and Peace to you.

Against the brutal urge
only a mass of gentle people
will be effective.

Against the deep night
which is not bottomless after all
only light will bring release.

Read the entire post on Unfolding Light, the blog of Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes. And, listen for the Spirit.

December 2: Channing Moore Williams, Missionary Bishop in China and Japan, 1910

December 2nd the Episcopal Church remembers Channing Moore Williams. On his gravestone some Japanese friends placed this touching epitaph: “During his fifty years in Japan he taught Christ’s ways and not his own.” So: In all things, may we seek Christ’s ways, not our own ways, to the glory of God.

St John the Baptist | Art for Advent 2C

Luke 3:2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

St John the Baptist in the Wilderness
St John the Baptist in the Wilderness
Oil on panel, 48 x 40 cm
Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid
BOSCH, Hieronymus
(b. ca. 1450, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, d. 1516, ‘s-Hertogenbosch)
Click image for more information.

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Commentary by Hovak Najarian

St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness, c. 1489-1505, Oil on Panel, Hieronymus Bosch, 1450-1516

Until recent times, artists were not preoccupied with styles. Their work gave form to thoughts concerning their physical, emotional, and spiritual worlds; art was (and is) a product of its time and culture. When art became an area of academic study, codification was necessary and terms came into use to describe periods and styles. Today, when the work of an artist of the past is highly individualistic, they are recognized as part of their culture but often are regarded as a precursor of a category that was not yet named during their lifetime. The work of fifteenth century painter, Hieronymus Bosch, falls easily into a classification that today is known as “Fantasy.”

The word “fantasy” brings to mind make-believe and the imagination. In art, it includes a variety of types ranging from the playfulness and humor of Disney to the dream imagery of Surrealism (“beyond the real”). It may include science fiction, mystery, fear, naïve art, and various moods as well. A work of fantasy may seem unusual and we may think the artist is surely quite different from us. Many artists, writers, musicians, and actors, however, work routinely in areas of fantasy but remain anchored to reality. On the face of it, the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch might cause one to think he was at least a little strange, yet from all indications his life was quite normal.

Bosch lived in the Netherlands and his milieu was very different from that of an almost exact contemporary, Sandro Botticelli, who worked in Florence. In Italy, humanism and the work of the Greeks and Romans set the stage for the art of the Renaissance. The Netherlands was farther away from classical influences and in the fifteenth century, lingering aspects of a Gothic world were still present in parts of Northern Europe. While Botticelli was making paintings such as, “The Birth of Venus,” Bosch’s themes focused on morality. He painted everyday people in scenes that were sometimes satirical and pessimistic; punishment and sin seemed to be a preoccupation. His landscape settings include typically medieval-like imagery of imaginative oddities and beasties that interact with people or, at times, carry on in a world of their own. A lot of side action usually takes place in his paintings.

An oft-depicted version of John the Baptist is that of an intense person clothed in animal skins and a caveman-like appearance. In motion pictures he may be shown as a bellicose man preaching in a shouting manner. In contrast, Bosch’s depiction shows John as a quiet, gentle, and thoughtful person. John, the forerunner of Christ, exists in a fantasy landscape and seems to be at peace as he leans against a rock and points to a lamb. Viewers in his time would recognize the lamb as a symbol of Christ and understand the connection

Note

Surrealists of the twentieth century looked upon Hieronymus Bosch as a kindred spirit. Unlike the Surrealists, however, Bosch’s paintings were not an outgrowth of dreams, chance occurrences, or interest in the paranormal. Bosch’s work seems unconventional to us today but in his time and place he was known as an imaginative moralist and a well regarded, artist.

Hovak Najarian © 2012

Cross Formed by Clouds | Art for Advent 1C

Luke 21:27 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.

Christ on the Cross Formed by Clouds
Christ on the Cross Formed by Clouds, 1734
Oil on canvas, 73 x 52 cm
Gemäldegalerie, Dresden
Louis de SILVESTRE,
(b. 1675, Sceaux, d. 1760, Paris).
Click image for more information.

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Commentary by Hovak Najarian

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Christ on the Cross Formed by Clouds, 1734, Oil on Canvas, Louis de Silvestre, 1675-1760

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In the motion picture based on Irving Stone’s novel, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Michelangelo was asked by Pope Julius II to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo resisted. He worked on the fresco for a short time and then left. He went into hiding and while the Pope was trying to locate him, movie goers were given “the inspiration scene.” Michelangelo was on a mountain when he saw clouds come together to form an image of “The Creation of Adam.” Being given a sign and a direction, he returned to paint the Chapel’s ceiling. The scene in the movie was the result of creative license but we all have had moments when we noticed images in rock formations, reflections, or even in mechanical objects. Leonardo da Vinci suggested artists use these images as points of departure when developing compositions for paintings. Louis de Silvestre did just that and his title, “Christ on the Cross Formed by Clouds” lets us in on the source of his inspiration.

Louis de Silvestre, a French artist of the Baroque Period, excelled in portrait painting. His patrons were primarily the wealthy noble class; among his patrons was Louis XV, King of France. He accepted a position of honor as painter at the court of Augustus II, King of Poland and worked there primarily as a portraitist for thirty years.

“Christ on the Cross Formed by Clouds” contrasts greatly from the rich color and baroque style found in de Silvestre’s portraits. The painting is simple in composition and subdued in its colors. There is no Roman soldier with a spear at the base of the cross or angels in the sky. Mary is not there nor are there people standing nearby in despair. None of the additions that artists have included typically in the crucifixion can be found in de Silvestre’s painting. Christ is alone. If we were not given the fact that it was painted in 1734 it would be difficult to place it in a time frame and it would be equally difficult to determine the artist. The style is neither characteristic of the baroque period nor of de Silvestre’s usual style. “Christ on the Cross Formed by Clouds” is related stylistically to some aspects of early nineteenth century Romanticism and would not seem out of place in an exhibit of early twentieth century Surrealism. There is a sense of mystery in its starkness. Louis de Silvestre was not interested in painting a series of cloud studies as did John Constable. It was this single unusual cloud formation that received his attention. Scientists could explain undoubtedly the cause of the phenomenon but for de Silvestre it was an inspiration. The cloud served as a catalyst to a spiritual moment that he painted to share with others.

Note

“Pareidolia” is the psychological term used to describe the seeing of images such as animals in clouds, faces in rock formations, or the familiar man in the moon; such observations seem to be an innate human response and universal. In 1996, the face of Mother Teresa was discovered on a cinnamon bun (dubbed the “nun bun”). An image of Jesus discovered on a grilled cheese sandwich was placed on eBay in 2004 and sold for $28,000. There tends to be an increase in religious image discoveries during holidays.

The Widow’s Mite | Art for Proper 27B

Mark 12:42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny.

The Widow's Mite
The Widow’s Mite, The Macklin Bible, 1794
Artaud, W. (William), 1763-1823 ; Delattre, Jean Marie, 1745 or 6-1840
Jean and Alexander Heard Library Nashville TN.
Click image for more information.

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Commentary by Hovak Najarian

The Widow’s Mite, 1794, Engraving, Jean Marie Delattre, 1745-1840, after an oil painting by William Artaud, 1763-1823

Today, a variety of photo-mechanical methods can be used to make reproductions of paintings but none were available during the eighteenth century. Unless a painting was public art or displayed in a church, it was likely to be in a private home and the number of people seeing it was limited. Artists such as Albrecht Durer and Rembrandt van Rijn remedied this in part by producing original prints (etchings, engravings, and woodcuts) in multiples. Fine art also was made available to a wider audience by employing skilled engravers to make detailed copies of paintings; the engravings then could be printed in large numbers. Engravings did not reproduce a painting’s colors, however, and the effect was similar to using the halftone process for printing photos in a newspaper. Like a halftone, engravings were printed usually in black ink and were primarily in a range of gray tones.

Thomas Macklin, an eighteenth century London art connoisseur, founded a business selling fine quality etchings and engravings but his most ambitious project was the publication of an illustrated Bible. It was published in seven volumes and illustrated with engravings of paintings commissioned from the finest English artists of his day. “Widow’s Mite,” by Jean Marie Delattre, is an engraving of a painting made by William Artaud for the Macklin Bible.

The setting for the “Widow’s Mite” is at a time when Christ was teaching at the temple in Jerusalem (Mark 12: 38-44). He told listeners to beware of scribes whose actions promoted their self image of being important; this could be seen even in the length of their pretentious prayers. He mentioned also the various ways scribes misuse their position; among them was taking advantage of poor widows. A little later, as Christ sat across from the treasury where the wealthy came to donate great sums of money, a poor widow came and contributed only two mites. The illustration of this scene in the Macklin Bible draws our attention to the figure of Christ who is seated near center and radiant in white. The widow has a child in tow and Christ is gesturing toward her while facing his disciples and pointing out that although the widow’s contribution was minute, it was a greater sacrifice than donations from the wealthy because the rich gave out of their abundance.

Note

The Macklin Bible, published in 1800, has been described as the largest and most impressive Bible ever printed. The seven volumes are each slightly over nineteen inches in length and fifteen inches in width. Each volume is almost three inches thick and all of them together weigh 130 lbs.

The small coin referred to in the Bible as a “mite” was actually a lepton. There was not a coin called mite in use during the time of Christ. A mite was a coin issued in Southern Netherlands in the early fifteenth century and Tyndale, in his translation of the Bible in 1525, used the term as the amount of the widow’s donation. It was used again in the King James translation of 1611. Like the lepton, a mite was almost valueless. A mite’s worth was said to be less than a cent, a penny, or a farthing. It is difficult to calculate what its value would be today. “Very little” may be the best answer.

Alpha Omega | Art for Proper 29B

Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Alpha Omega
Cristo barbato (dettaglio), affresco 60×72
Bust of Christ from the catacomb of Commodilla.
Late 4th century
Catacombe di Commodilla, Roma.
Click image for more information.

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Commentary by Hovak Najarian

 

Alpha and Omega, Fresco from the Catacomb of Commodilla, Late 4th century.

 

For many of us during youth, a catacomb was imagined to be a place where one might wander into, become lost, and never find a way out. They were thought to be maize-like underground tunnels where secret rituals took place. Early Christians, it was said, hid from Romans in them. Reality is seldom as mysterious as the imagination and although it is conceivable a catacomb could have served as a hiding place, the evidence for this is lacking. The catacombs were burial sites for early Christians living in Rome and the rituals that took place were burial rites. When a Roman died, cremation was the usual practice but Christians buried their dead and believed in the body’s resurrection. The most common image painted on catacomb walls is that of Jesus raising Lazarus. Because space in the city was limited, Christians carved underground burial chambers in soft volcanic rock at the outskirts of Rome.

The catacomb of Commodilla has been of special interest because within it is an underground church built under the direction of Pope Siricius during his reign from 384 to 399 AD. Frescos cover the walls of the church and in the center of the ceiling – surrounded by smaller paintings – is a bust of Christ with the letters Alpha and Omega written on either side. These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet and are in reference to two statements in the Book of Revelation; “I am the Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, who is and was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Rev. 1:8). This concept is stated again in the last chapter of Revelation; “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (Rev. 22:13).

This painting is one of the earliest depictions of a bearded Christ. Before this time, paintings were based usually on young males seen in Roman wall paintings and Christ was shown as a beardless youth (as in catacomb images of the Good Shepherd). Many centuries lapsed before Christ was regularly depicted with a beard. The image of a bearded Christ was used regularly first in Eastern Christianity and his features tended to be more Near Eastern. If the beard were removed from this painting, Christ’s face would still look Roman.

Note

In the Greek alphabet, some lowercase letters bear no resemblance to their uppercase counterparts. In the painting of Christ from the catacomb of Commodilla, the Greek letter, “alpha” is written in uppercase and “omega” is in lowercase (like a cursive “w”). An uppercase omega is shaped like a horseshoe with “feet” extending outward from the bottom on each side.

In the latter part of the third century, some of the wealthy Christians chose to be buried in a sarcophagus; a stone coffin. It often was made of marble, carved elaborately with relief sculpture, and was intended to remain above ground. At one time, limestone was used for sarcophagi and it was thought it caused the body to decompose. The Greek word “sarcophagus” means literally, “eating of flesh.” The word “sarcasm” has the same root. To be sarcastic is to “tear the flesh.”

Hovak Najarian © 2012

Ruth and Naomi | Art for Proper 26B

Ruth 1:16 But Ruth said,
“Do not press me to leave you
or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.

Ruth and Naomi
Ruth and Naomi, Painting, 2001,
He Qi, China,
Oil on canvas, 119 x 146 cm
Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
Click image for more information.

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Commentary by Hovak Najarian

Ruth and Naomi, 2001, Mixed Media on Paper, He Qi (20th cent.)

The familiar, Moonlight Sonata was not inspired by the moon and Beethoven did not know it by that title. A German critic used that term to describe it a few years after Beethoven’s death. Music is the most abstract of the arts and a title of a piece may be simply something that pops into a person’s thoughts. When Aaron Copland wrote a ballet for Martha Graham, his focus was on composing music; he was not writing a score for a film and did not have a subject in mind. Graham liked the title of Hart Crane’s poem, Appalachian Spring, and decided to make it the title of her ballet. The ballet became widely known and Copland was amused when he would be told his music captured perfectly the image of springtime in the Appalachians. Today, the title of an abstract painting often is intended to provide meaning when none may be found in the work itself.

In the Book of Ruth we read the story of Naomi who left Judah with her husband and two sons and went to Moab. Her two sons married Moabites. Naomi’s husband died while they were there and later her two sons died as well. She told her daughters-in-law of her plan to return to Judah and tried to convince them to remain in Moab and possibly remarry. Ruth, one of the daughters-in-law, clung to Naomi and begged to go to Judah with her. In this touching moment Ruth said to Naomi: “Entreat me not to leave you…for where you go I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge, your people shall be my people and your God my God;” (Ruth 1:16).

None of the emotional content found in the story of Ruth and Naomi is seen in He Qi’s painting. Even to believe two women are being depicted depends entirely on the acceptance of its title. This subject is treated usually as two women embracing and we may assume this is what He Qi had in mind as well. If the title were not provided the painting could be interpreted easily as two figures dancing; possibly doing a tango or the west coast swing. As with music, an abstraction in art may be called anything.

To a person unfamiliar with art, He Qi’s painting may seem “modern” but it is related in form to the work done by French Cubists and German Expressionists during the early years of the twentieth century. In Ruth and Naomi there is a big dose of mid-twentieth century grade school cliché as well. A popular art assignment in the 1950s was to ask a child to fill a sheet of paper with curvilinear lines; then the shapes formed by the overlapping lines were filled in with different colors; He Qi follows this formula. His “Ruth and Naomi” may delight people enamored with bright colors but it lacks both originality and substance. Perhaps a painting can never depict fully the emotions being experienced in this heartwarming biblical story but treating it as an abstraction and giving it a title avoids the problem entirely.

Note

Modern art is a term applied to work that emerged in the late nineteenth century and continued until the 1960s – 1970s. Although styles that came out of modernism are now somewhat passé, they tend to appeal to artists who are self-consciously trying to be forward thinking and yet seem to be unaware that art of the last century no longer represents the avant-garde.

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© 2012 Hovak Najarian

Christ Healing the Blind | Art for Proper 25B

Mark 10:46 They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside.

Christ Healing the Blind
Christ Healing the Blind, c. 1570’s,
El Greco, 1541-1614
Oil on canvas, 119 x 146 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkClick image for more information and two earlier versions by El Greco.

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Commentary by Hovak Najarian

Domenikos Theotokopoulos, of Greek descent, was born on the island of Crete at a time when it was a Venetian colony. He began his career as an icon painter but while a young man he went to Venice to study painting with Titian, one of the great masters of the sixteenth century. He then moved to Rome, opened a workshop, and became familiar with the work of artists associated with the Renaissance and Mannerism. Next on his itinerary was Madrid where he hoped to work at the Spanish court. The king did not like his work, however, and after receiving a commission for a group of paintings at a church in Toledo, he decided to stay there and make it his home. In Spain, he became known simply as The Greek – “El Greco.”

While in Italy, El Greco painted three versions of Christ Healing the Blind; the one shown above was his last one. It has a few unfinished areas and was taken with him to Spain – perhaps to finish it there. At that time he was influenced by the artists of Venice and, inasmuch as this painting was not quite complete and not signed, historians first attributed it to two highly regarded Venetian painters. It was thought to be a Tintoretto and later, the work of Veronese. In 1958 it was determined to be the work of El Greco.

This painting is not from a specific biblical text but is a synthesis of several accounts of Christ healing the blind. The man pointing upward at the far left has had his sight restored and is telling about the experience to the people gathered. Another man is kneeling and his eyes are being touched by Christ. In El Greco’s first painting of this subject, he placed a dog in the central foreground sniffing the belongings of the man being healed. That space was left empty in the second version but in this, his third interpretation, the central foreground has been given over to a man and woman witnessing the miracle and gesturing in awe. Because of a likeness between the man in the foreground and the man being healed, it has been suggested the two figures in the foreground are the blind man’s parents. The men grouped together at the far right of the painting are believed to be Pharisees airing their criticism because the healing was carried out on the Sabbath.

El Greco’s greatest success and the development of his artistic style came during his years in Spain. Although he lived in Toledo until the time of his death, he remained emotionally close to his Greek heritage. When adding his signature to a painting, he always signed his given name in Greek and sometimes followed with, “from Crete.”

Note

El Greco’s life and work spans the time between Mannerism and the Baroque period. After the Venetian influence diminished, his style became so distinctive and personal that it defies categorization. His work is now regarded to be an early manifestation of “expressionism.”

Elongated figures are a characteristic of El Greco’s work in Spain. It has been suggested astigmatism was the cause. That is inaccurate. If average sized figures looked elongated to him, he would see the figures elongated in his paintings as well, yet to us, they would appear to be average in size.