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El Greco (probably a combination of the Castilian and the Venetian
language for "The Greek", 1541 – April 7, 1614) was a prominent
painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. He usually
signed his paintings in Greek letters with his full name, Doménicos
Theotocópoulos (Greek: Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος), underscoring his Greek
descent.
El Greco was born in Crete, which was at that time part of the Republic
of Venice, and at 26 travelled to Venice to study. In 1570 he moved to
Rome, where he opened a workshop and executed a series of works. During
his stay in Italy, El Greco enriched his style with elements of
Mannerism and of the Venetian Renaissance. In 1577 he emigrated to
Toledo, Spain, where he lived and worked until his death. In Toledo El
Greco received several major commissions and produced his best known
paintings.
El Greco's dramatic and expressionistic style was met with puzzlement by
his contemporaries but found appreciation in the 20th century. El Greco
is regarded as a precursor of both Expressionism and Cubism, while his
personality and works were a source of inspiration for poets and writers
such as Rainer Maria Rilke and Nikos Kazantzakis. El Greco has been
characterized by modern scholars as an artist so individual that he
belongs to no conventional school. He is best known for tortuously
elongated figures and often fantastic or phantasmagorical pigmentation,
marrying Byzantine traditions with those of Western civilization.
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