El Expolio, 1579
El Greco, Doménikos Theotokópoulos
Greek, 1541-1614
Oil on canvas
Mannerism
The El Expolio (removal of Jesus' garment) shines like a most precious jewel. The burning ruby of Christ's robe consumes the cool tonalities that gravitate around this flame the gray, the ocher, the blue and violet and creates a hitherto unseen splendor: the complementary blue shadow on the yellowish surcoat of the bent figure, the intense reflections of red on the gray-violet of the knight's armor.
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 painting.
El Expolio, 1579
El Greco, Doménikos Theotokópoulos
Greek, 1541-1614
Oil on canvas
Mannerism
The El Expolio (removal of Jesus' garment) shines like a most precious jewel. The burning ruby of Christ's robe consumes the cool tonalities that gravitate around this flame the gray, the ocher, the blue and violet and creates a hitherto unseen splendor: the complementary blue shadow on the yellowish surcoat of the bent figure, the intense reflections of red on the gray-violet of the knight's armor.
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 painting.