El Greco painting travels from Syros to Toledo
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
One of the early paintings by old master Domenikos Theotokopoulos, a religious icon currently held on the Greek island of Syros, is to be loaned to the Santa Cruz Museum in Toledo, Spain for an exhibition starting on 14 March.
The exhibition, entitled "The Greek of Toledo," marks the 400th anniversary since the death of the painter widely known as El Greco.
The "Dormition of the Virgin" painting was discovered in a church of the same name in the island's main town Ermoupolis and represents the earliest period of the Renaissance painter's work, the so-called 'Cretan' period, dating back to 1562-1564 when he was still on his home island of Crete.
The painting's origins were discovered in 1983 by the culture ministry's archaeologist Giorgos Mastoropoulos, who discovered the painter's signature on the religious painting.
The largest exhibition ever organised on El Greco's work, collecting 75 paintings by the master from museums throughout the world, it will run until June 14 as part of events for 'El Greco Year' in both Greece and Spain.
Throughout the exhibition, visitors to Toledo will also have the opportunity to admire his works in other locations in the city, in addition to the museum, such as the Toledo Cathedral, San Jose chapel, Santo Tome Church, Tavera Hospital and the monastery of Santo Domingo el Antiguo.
The painting will only stay in Toledo for roughly one month, however, returning to Syros on April 14 in time for the Easter holiday on April 20. The exhibition organisers have also promised to put it on display in a special display case with the right microclimate for its preservation.
El Greco painted his Dormition of the Virgin near the end of his Cretan period, probably before 1567. El Greco's signature on the base of the central candelabrum was discovered in 1983. The discovery of the Dormition led to the attribution of three other signed works of "Doménicos" to El Greco (Modena Triptych, St Luke Painting the Virgin anmd Child , and the Adoration of the Magi) and then to the acceptance as authentic of more works, signed or not (such as The Passion of Christ painted in 1566).
This discovery constituted a significant advance in the understanding of El Greco's formation and early career. The painting combines post -Byzantine and Italian mannerist stylistic and iconographic elements
El Greco is now seen as an artist with a formative training on Crete; a series of works illuminate the style of early El Greco, some painted while he was still in Crete, some from his period in Venice, and some from his subsequent stay in Rome.
The icon, which retains its function as an object of veneration in the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin in Syros , was probably brought to the island during the Greek War of Independence . The icon conforms closely to the established pattern for this subject, which was very common in the Orthodox Church in which El Greco was raised and was influenced by. Nevertheless, it has lost some elements of the traditional Byzantine austerity, adopting traits of the Renaissance engravings.
