Editing El Greco (section)

====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" />