Editing El Greco (section)

===Spain===

====Move to Toledo====
[[File:Domenikos Theotokópoulos, called El Greco - The Assumption of the Virgin - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''[[Assumption of the Virgin (El Greco)|The Assumption of the Virgin]]'' (1577–1579, oil on canvas, {{nowrap|401 × 228 cm}}, [[Art Institute of Chicago]]) was one of the nine paintings El Greco completed for the [[Monastery of Saint Dominic of Silos (the Old)|church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo]] in Toledo, his first commission in Spain.]]

In 1577, El Greco migrated to Madrid and then to Toledo, where he produced his mature works.<ref name="Tazartges36">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Greco, El|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|year=2002}}<br />* M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 36</ref> At the time, Toledo was the religious capital of Spain and a populous city{{efn|Toledo must have been one of the largest cities in Europe during this period. In 1571 the population of the city was 62,000.<ref name="Plaka43-44" />}} with "an illustrious past, a prosperous present and an uncertain future".<ref name="Kagan">Brown-Kagan, ''View of Toledo'', 19</ref> In Rome, El Greco had earned the respect of some intellectuals, but was also facing the hostility of certain [[art criticism|art critics]].<ref name="Tazartes36">M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 36</ref> During the 1570s the huge monastery-palace of [[El Escorial]] was still under construction and [[Philip II of Spain]] was experiencing difficulties in finding good artists for the many large paintings required to decorate it. Titian was dead, and Tintoretto, [[Paolo Veronese|Veronese]] and [[Anthonis Mor]] all refused to come to Spain. Philip had to rely on the lesser talent of [[Juan Fernández de Navarrete]], of whose ''gravedad y decoro'' ("seriousness and decorum") the king approved. When Fernández died in 1579, the moment was ideal for El Greco to move to Toledo.<ref>Trevor-Roper, Hugh; ''Princes and Artists, Patronage and Ideology at Four Habsburg Courts 1517–1633'', Thames & Hudson, London, 1976, pp. 62–68</ref>

Through Clovio and Orsini, El Greco met [[Benito Arias Montano]], a Spanish humanist and agent of Philip; [[Pedro Chacón]], a clergyman; and [[Luis de Castilla]], son of [[Diego de Castilla]], the dean of the [[Cathedral of Toledo]].<ref name="Plaka43-44">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco – The Greek'', 43–44</ref> El Greco's friendship with Castilla would secure his first large commissions in Toledo. He arrived in Toledo by July 1577, and signed contracts for a group of paintings that was to adorn the [[Monastery of Saint Dominic of Silos (the Old)|church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo]] in Toledo and for {{lang|es|[[El Espolio]]}}.<ref name="Irving">{{cite web|author=M. Irving|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1827701.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106102500/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1827701.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 November 2012|title=How to Beat the Spanish Inquisition|work=[[The Independent]], archived at highbeam.com|date=9 February 2004|access-date=20 August 2011}}</ref> By September 1579 he had completed nine paintings for Santo Domingo, including ''The Trinity'' and ''The Assumption of the Virgin''. These works would establish the painter's reputation in Toledo.<ref name="Brown" />

El Greco did not plan to settle permanently in Toledo, since his final aim was to win the favor of Philip and make his mark in his court.<ref name="Lambraki45">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco – The Greek'', 45</ref> Indeed, he did manage to secure two important commissions from the monarch: ''Allegory of the Holy League'' and ''Martyrdom of [[St. Maurice]]''. However, the king did not like these works and placed the St Maurice altarpiece in the [[chapter-house]] rather than the intended chapel. He gave no further commissions to El Greco.<ref name="Scholz40">M. Scholz-Hansel, ''El Greco'', 40</ref> The exact reasons for the king's dissatisfaction remain unclear. Some scholars have suggested that Philip did not like the inclusion of living persons in a religious scene;<ref name="Scholz40" /> some others that El Greco's works violated a basic rule of the [[Counter-Reformation]], namely that in the image the content was paramount rather than the style.<ref name="Plaka45">M. Lambraki-Plaka, ''El Greco – The Greek'', 45<br />* J. Brown, ''El Greco and Toledo'', 98</ref> Philip took a close interest in his artistic commissions, and had very decided tastes; a long sought-after sculpted Crucifixion by [[Benvenuto Cellini]] also failed to please when it arrived, and was likewise exiled to a less prominent place. Philip's next experiment, with [[Federico Zuccari]] was even less successful.<ref>Trevor-Roper, op cit pp. 63, 66–69</ref> In any case, Philip's dissatisfaction ended any hopes of royal patronage El Greco may have had.<ref name="Brown" />

====Mature works and later years====
[[File:El Greco - The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.JPG|thumb|left|''[[The Burial of the Count of Orgaz]]'' (1586–1588, oil on canvas, {{nowrap|480 × 360 cm}}, [[Church of Santo Tomé, Toledo|church of Santo Tomé]], Toledo), now El Greco's best known work, illustrates a popular local legend. An exceptionally large painting, it is clearly divided into two zones: the heavenly above and the terrestrial below, brought together compositionally.]]

Lacking the favor of the king, El Greco was obliged to remain in Toledo, where he had been received in 1577 as a great painter.<ref name="Pijoah">J. Pijoan, ''El Greco – A Spaniard'', 12</ref> According to [[Hortensio Félix Paravicino]], a 17th-century Spanish preacher and poet, "Crete gave him life and the painter's craft, Toledo a better homeland, where through Death he began to achieve eternal life."<ref name="Berg">L. Berg, {{cite web|url=http://www.kaiku.com/greco.html|title=El Greco in Toledo|work=kaiku.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090528102057/http://kaiku.com/greco.html|archive-date=28 May 2009 |access-date=20 August 2011}}</ref> In 1585, he appears to have hired an assistant, [[Italian painter]] Francisco Preboste, and to have established a workshop capable of producing [[altar]] frames and statues as well as paintings.<ref name="Gudiol">Brown-Mann, Spanish Paintings, 42<br />* J. Gudiol, ''Iconography and Chronology'', 195</ref> On 12 March 1586 he obtained the commission for ''[[The Burial of the Count of Orgaz]]'', now his best-known work.<ref name="Tazartes49">M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 49</ref>

The decade 1597 to 1607 was a period of intense activity for El Greco. During these years he received several major commissions, and his workshop created pictorial and sculptural ensembles for a variety of religious institutions. Among his major commissions of this period were three altars for the Chapel of San José in Toledo (1597–1599); three paintings (1596–1600) for the Colegio de Doña María de Aragon, an [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] monastery in Madrid, and the high altar, four lateral altars, and the painting ''[[Saint Ildefonsus (El Greco, Illescas)|St. Ildefonso]]'' for the Capilla Mayor of the Hospital de la Caridad (Hospital of Charity) at [[Illescas, Toledo|Illescas]] (1603–1605).<ref name="Br" /> The minutes of the commission of ''[[The Immaculate Conception Paintings by El Greco|The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception]]'' (1607–1613), which were composed by the personnel of the municipality, describe El Greco as "one of the greatest men in both this kingdom and outside it".<ref name="Gudio252">J. Gudiol, ''El Greco'', 252</ref>

Between 1607 and 1608 El Greco was involved in a protracted legal dispute with the authorities of the Hospital of Charity at Illescas concerning payment for his work, which included painting, sculpture and architecture;{{efn|El Greco signed the contract for the decoration of the high altar of the church of the Hospital of Charity on 18 June 1603. He agreed to finish the work by August of the following year. Although such deadlines were seldom met, it was a point of potential conflict. He also agreed to allow the brotherhood to select the appraisers.<ref name="Engass205">Enggass-Brown, ''Italian and Spanish Art, 1600–1750'', 205</ref> The brotherhood took advantage of this act of good faith and did not wish to arrive at a fair settlement.<ref name="Fernádez172-184">F. de S.R. Fernádez, {{lang|es|De la Vida del Greco}}, 172–184</ref> Finally, El Greco assigned his legal representation to Preboste and a friend of him, Francisco Ximénez Montero, and accepted a payment of 2,093 [[ducat]]s.<ref name="Tazartes56">M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 56, 61</ref>}} this and other legal disputes contributed to the economic difficulties he experienced towards the end of his life.<ref name="Tazartes61">M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 61</ref> In 1608, he received his last major commission at the Hospital of [[Saint John the Baptist]] in Toledo.<ref name="Brown" />

[[File:El Expolio, por El Greco.jpg|thumb|''[[The Disrobing of Christ]]'' ({{lang|es|El Espolio}}) (1577–1579, oil on canvas, {{nowrap|285 × 173 cm}}, Sacristy of the [[Toledo Cathedral|Cathedral]], Toledo) is one of the most famous [[altarpiece]]s of El Greco. El Greco's altarpieces are renowned for their dynamic compositions and startling innovations.]]

El Greco made Toledo his home. Surviving contracts mention him as the tenant from 1585 onwards of a complex consisting of three apartments and twenty-four rooms which belonged to the [[Marquis de Villena]].<ref name="Helios">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Theotocópoulos, Doménicos|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia The Helios|year=1952}}</ref> It was in these apartments, which also served as his workshop, that he spent the rest of his life, painting and studying. He lived in considerable style, sometimes employing musicians to play whilst he dined. It is not confirmed whether he lived with his Spanish female companion, Jerónima de Las Cuevas, whom he probably never married. She was the mother of his only son, [[Jorge Manuel Theotocópuli|Jorge Manuel]], born in 1578, who also became a painter, assisted his father, and continued to repeat his compositions for many years after he inherited the studio.{{efn|Doña Jerónima de Las Cuevas appears to have outlived El Greco, and, although the master acknowledged both her and his son, he never married her. That fact has puzzled researchers, because he mentioned her in various documents, including his last testament. Most analysts assume that El Greco had married unhappily in his youth and therefore could not legalize another attachment.<ref name="Br" />|name=J}} In 1604, Jorge Manuel and Alfonsa de los Morales gave birth to El Greco's grandson, Gabriel, who was baptized by Gregorio Angulo, governor of Toledo and a personal friend of the artist.<ref name="Tazartes61" />

During the course of the execution of a commission for the [[Hospital de Tavera]], El Greco fell seriously ill, and died a month later, on 7 April 1614. A few days earlier, on 31 March, he had directed that his son should have the power to make his will. Two Greeks, friends of the painter, witnessed this [[last will and testament]] (El Greco never lost touch with his Greek origins).<ref name="Scholz81">M. Scholz-Hansel, ''El Greco'', 81</ref> He was buried in the Church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo, aged 73.<ref name="HispTaz">Hispanic Society of America, ''El Greco'', 35–36<br />* M. Tazartes, ''El Greco'', 67</ref>