Editing El Greco (section)

===Italy===
[[File:El Greco - The Adoration of the Magi - Google Art Project (721007).jpg|thumb|''The Adoration of the Magi'' (1565–1567, {{nowrap|56 × 62 cm}}, [[Benaki Museum]], Athens). The icon, signed by El Greco ("Χείρ Δομήνιχου", Created by the hand of Doménicos), was painted in Candia on part of an old chest.]]
[[File:7222 Adoración de los Reyes Magos.jpg|thumb|''[[Adoration of the Magi (El Greco, 1568)|
Adoration of the Magi]]'', 1568, [[Museo Soumaya]], Mexico City]]

It was natural for the young El Greco to pursue his career in Venice, Crete having been a possession of the Republic of Venice since 1211.<ref name="Br" /> Though the exact year is not clear, most scholars agree that El Greco went to Venice around 1567.{{efn|According to archival research in the late 1990s, El Greco was still in Candia at the age of twenty-six. It was there where his works, created in the spirit of the post-Byzantine painters of the Cretan School, were greatly esteemed. On 26 December 1566 El Greco sought permission from the Venetian authorities to sell a "panel of the Passion of Christ executed on a [[gold background]]" ("un quadro della Passione del Nostro Signor Giesu Christo, dorato") in a lottery.<ref name="Cormack" /> The Byzantine icon by young Doménicos depicting the ''Passion of Christ'', painted on a gold ground, was appraised and sold on 27 December 1566 in Candia for the agreed price of seventy gold ducats (The panel was valued by two artists; one of them was icon-painter [[Georgios Klontzas]]. One valuation was eighty ducats and the other seventy), equal in value to a work by Titian or Tintoretto of that period.<ref name="Constantoudaki71" /> Therefore, it seems that El Greco traveled to Venice sometime after 27 December 1566.<ref name="Sethre90">J. Sethre, ''The Souls of Venice'', 90</ref> In one of his last articles, Wethey reassessed his previous estimations and accepted that El Greco left Crete in 1567.<ref name="Wetheyar" /> According to other archival material—drawings El Greco sent to a Cretan [[cartographer]]—he was in Venice by 1568.<ref name="Constantoudaki71">M. Constantoudaki, ''Theotocópoulos from Candia to Venice'', 71</ref>}} Knowledge of El Greco's years in Italy is limited. He lived in Venice until 1570 and, according to a letter written by his much older friend, the greatest miniaturist of the age, [[Giulio Clovio]], was a "disciple" of [[Titian]], who was by then in his eighties but still vigorous. This may mean he worked in Titian's large studio, or not. Clovio characterized El Greco as "a rare talent in painting".<ref name="Plaka42">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco – The Greek'', 42</ref>

In 1570, El Greco moved to Rome, where he executed a series of works strongly marked by his Venetian apprenticeship.<ref name="Plaka42" /> It is unknown how long he remained in Rome, though he may have returned to Venice ({{circa|1575–76}}) before he left for Spain.<ref name="Mayer28">A.L. Mayer, ''Notes on the Early El Greco'', 28</ref> In Rome, on the recommendation of Giulio Clovio,<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Domenico Theotocopuli (El Greco)}}</ref> El Greco was received as a guest at the [[Palazzo Farnese]], which [[Cardinal Alessandro Farnese]] had made a center of the artistic and intellectual life of the city. There he came into contact with the intellectual elite of the city, including the Roman scholar [[Fulvio Orsini]], whose collection would later include seven paintings by the artist (''View of [[Mount Sinai|Mt. Sinai]]'' and a portrait of Clovio are among them).<ref name="Scholz19">M. Scholz-Hansel, ''El Greco'', 19</ref>

Unlike other Cretan artists who had moved to Venice, El Greco substantially altered his style and sought to distinguish himself by inventing new and unusual interpretations of traditional religious subject matter.<ref name="Mann89">R.G. Mann, ''Tradition and Originality in El Greco's Work'', 89</ref> His works painted in Italy were influenced by the [[Venetian Renaissance]] style of the period, with agile, elongated figures reminiscent of Tintoretto and a chromatic framework that connects him to Titian.<ref name="Br" /> The Venetian painters also taught him to organize his multi-figured compositions in landscapes vibrant with atmospheric light. Clovio reports visiting El Greco on a summer's day while the artist was still in Rome. El Greco was sitting in a darkened room, because he found the darkness more conducive to thought than the light of the day, which disturbed his "inner light".<ref name="Acton82">M. Acton, ''Learning to Look at Paintings'', 82</ref> As a result of his stay in Rome, his works were enriched with elements such as violent [[perspective (graphical)|perspective]] vanishing points or strange attitudes struck by the figures with their repeated twisting and turning and tempestuous gestures; all elements of Mannerism.<ref name="Plaka42" />

[[File:Musée de Capodimonte - Le Gréco, portrait de Giulio Clovio, en 1571-572 -01.jpg|left|thumb|''Portrait of Giorgio [[Giulio Clovio]]'', the earliest surviving portrait from El Greco (1571, [[oil on canvas]], {{nowrap|58 × 86 cm}}, [[Museo di Capodimonte]], [[Naples]]). In the portrait of Clovio, friend and supporter in Rome of the young Cretan artist, the first evidence of El Greco's gifts as a [[portrait]]ist are apparent.]]

By the time El Greco arrived in Rome, [[Michelangelo]] and [[Raphael]] were dead, but their example continued to be paramount, and somewhat overwhelming for young painters. El Greco was determined to make his own mark in Rome defending his personal artistic views, ideas and style.<ref name="ScholzTazartes">M. Scholz-Hänsel, ''El Greco'', 20<br />* M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 31–32</ref> He singled out [[Correggio]] and [[Parmigianino]] for particular praise,<ref name="Kimmelman">M. Kimmelman, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04E1DB173CF930A35753C1A9659C8B63 El Greco, Bearer Of Many Gifts]</ref> but he did not hesitate to dismiss Michelangelo's ''Last Judgment'' in the [[Sistine Chapel]];{{efn|Mancini reports that El Greco said to the Pope that if the whole work was demolished he himself would do it in a decent manner and with seemliness.<ref name="Scholz">M. Scholz-Hänsel, ''El Greco'', 92</ref>}} he extended an offer to [[Pope Pius V]] to paint over the whole work in accord with the new and stricter Catholic thinking.<ref name="Scholz20">M. Scholz-Hänsel, ''El Greco'', 20</ref> When he was later asked what he thought about Michelangelo, El Greco replied that "he was a good man, but he did not know how to paint".<ref name="Plaka47-49">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco – The Greek'', 47–49</ref> However, despite El Greco's criticism,<ref name="BrahamG">A. Braham, ''Two Notes on El Greco and Michelangelo'', 307–310<br />* J. Jones, [https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2004/jan/24/1 The Reluctant Disciple]</ref> Michelangelo's influence can be seen in later El Greco works such as the ''Allegory of the Holy League''.<ref name="Boubli217">L. Boubli, ''Michelangelo and Spain'', 217</ref> By painting portraits of Michelangelo, Titian, Clovio and, presumably, Raphael in one of his works (''The Purification of the Temple''), El Greco not only expressed his gratitude but also advanced the claim to rival these masters. As his own commentaries indicate, El Greco viewed Titian, Michelangelo and Raphael as models to emulate.<ref name="Scholz20" /> In his 17th century ''Chronicles'', [[Giulio Mancini]] included El Greco among the painters who had initiated, in various ways, a re-evaluation of Michelangelo's teachings.<ref name = "Tazartes32"/>

Because of his unconventional artistic beliefs (such as his dismissal of Michelangelo's technique) and personality, El Greco soon acquired enemies in Rome. Architect and writer [[Pirro Ligorio]] called him a "foolish foreigner", and newly discovered archival material reveals a skirmish with Farnese, who obliged the young artist to leave his palace.<ref name="Tazartes32">M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 32</ref> On 6 July 1572, El Greco officially complained about this event. A few months later, on 18 September 1572, he paid his dues to the [[Guild of Saint Luke]] in Rome as a [[Portrait miniature|miniature]] painter.<ref name="Brown">Brown-Mann, ''Spanish Paintings'', 42</ref> At the end of that year, El Greco opened his own workshop and hired as assistants the painters Lattanzio Bonastri de Lucignano and Francisco Preboste.<ref name="Tazartes32" />