El-Greco Museum
Domenikos Theotokopoulos lived here.
He was born in this house - place.
El Greco's History - Museum
Domenicos Theotokopoulos (Heraklion, Crete, October 1, 1541 – Toledo, April 7, 1614). The Domenicos Theotokopoulos Museum is located at the entrance to the village of Fodele, 29 kilometers west of the city of Heraklion, 1 kilometer from the square of Fodele.
The Domenicos Theotokopoulos Museum (also known as the El Greco Museum) was restored under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture and began operating in August 1998 with an exhibition of copies of works by Domenicos Theotokopoulos.
History states that he was born 25 km northwest of Chandaka (the old name of Heraklion), next to a Byzantine church. This area is called Theotokiana and is one of the first settlements of Fodele.
His date of birth is not derived from any official document of the time but from a handwritten note, according to which he was 65 years old in 1606.
His father, Georgios Theotokopoulos, was a tax collector and merchant. We have no information about his mother, while the identity of a possible first Greek wife remains unknown. He had an older brother, Manousos Theotokopoulos (1531-1604), who followed their father's profession.
Theotokopoulos was trained as a hagiographer, a fact attested by a public document of 1563, while he must have studied ancient Greek and classical literature from a young age, judging by the rich library he bequeathed after his death.
In the 16th century, approximately two hundred painters worked in Chania, organized in guilds according to Italian standards. Theotokopoulos became familiar with the works of Renaissance artists circulating in Venetian-held Crete from an early age and from 1563 he officially practiced the profession of painter.
Given that Crete belonged to the territory of the Republic of Venice, it was natural for him to settle in Venice to continue his studies. The exact date of his arrival is not known, however it is estimated that he left Crete in 1567.
He lived in Venice until approximately 1570, attempting to follow the models of the artists who dominated the artistic life of the city, among them Titian and Tintoretto.
At the same time, he adopted the technique of oil painting, now painting on canvas and abandoning wood. One of the works that captures Theotokopoulos' transition from the Byzantine to the Western idiom is the Triptych of Modena (c. 1560-1565), which included elements clearly inspired by the models that dominated Italy, intertwined with themes influenced by Greco-Roman antiquity.
In 1570, he was in Rome, a fact that is revealed to us by a relevant letter from the painter Giulio Clovio, through which he introduces Theotokopoulos to his patron, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, describing him as a "young man from Candace, a student of Titian" and "a rare talent in painting"
Possibly to repay the favor, El Greco painted a half-length portrait of Clovio, which is the oldest surviving portrait of him. In Rome, Theotokopoulos, like other distinguished painters, faced fierce competition at the time, at the same time as Titian was dominating the scene and Michelangelo's work was still influential six years after his death.
El Greco's relationship with the latter's work remains controversial. According to an anecdotal account that is not confirmed, he suggested to Pope Pius V that he paint a version of Michelangelo's Second Coming, a work with which he had decorated the Sistine Chapel.
When later asked for his opinion of Michelangelo, Theotokopoulos replied that he considered him a good man, but that he did not know how to paint. Francisco Pacheco also mentions unfavourable comments by El Greco about Michelangelo, during their meeting in Toledo, shortly before his death.
On the other hand, the influence he exerted on him is taken for granted. The portraits of Titian, Michelangelo, Clovis and Raphael that he painted in the work The Expulsion of the Merchants have been interpreted as his desire to pay homage to them, thus recognizing their value. However, it seems that El Greco showed more interest in the dynamism of Correggio and the elegance of Parmigianino's works.
At the Palazzo Farnese he met the Farnese humanist librarian, Fulvio Orsini, who was a supporter of El Greco and whose collection later included seven of his works. Working in the service of Alessandro Farnese, he had few significant opportunities to showcase his talent and ultimately took on few commissions.
In 1572 he was finally dismissed from the Palazzo Farnese, a fact attested by a letter from Theotokopoulos, dated 6 July 1572, in which he protests his unjust expulsion from the palace.
On 18 September of the same year, he applied to become a member of the guild of painters of St. Luke, under the name Domenico Greco, apparently deciding to pursue a career as an independent and autonomous artist. Overall, the paintings he painted in Italy followed the Renaissance models of 16th-century Venice[12], especially in terms of the rendering of light or the emphasis on colour, setting aside the Byzantine idiom and adopting a different technique and elements of Mannerism.
In 1577, El Greco's presence in Spain is recorded, without much information being available about his activities in Italy during the period 1572-76. He initially settled in Madrid and later in Toledo, a city that was then the religious and political center of Spain, with approximately 62,000 inhabitants in 1571.
There he created some of the most famous works of his mature period and achieved his canonization. Among the first commissions he undertook were three altarpieces for the church of San Domenico and the painting The Division of the Robes of Christ (1577-79), which was transferred to the sacristy of the city's cathedral.
He also participated in the iconographic program for the El Escorial Palace, which was possibly the main reason for his settlement in Spain, seeking to gain the king's favor.
Philip II of Spain initially chose the painter Juan Fernández de Navarrete to decorate the church of San Lorenzo, but after his death, he commissioned the work to Theotokopoulos.
He completed the work The Martyrdom of San Mauricio (1580-82), which, however, did not satisfy the king, and as a result, it was not placed in the church of El Escorial, probably because it was not compatible with the spirit that he himself sought to dominate.
In 1586, the parish priest of Saint Thomas commissioned him to paint The Burial of Count Orgath, which remains one of his most popular works to this day. Among the most important commissions he undertook in Toledo were also an altarpiece he painted for the Foundation of Doña María de Aragon in Madrid, as well as the decoration of the Chapel of Saint Joseph (Capilla de San Jose), which included two religious compositions and two sculptures of David and Solomon.
His workshop reached its peak during the period 1600-1607, while his son, whose name is mentioned in several documents of the time, was his collaborator from 1597.
The last commission that Theotokopoulos undertook was for the Tavera Hospital in Toledo, for which he collaborated with his son.
He died on 7 April 1614, before completing the work, and was initially buried in the church of San Domenico in Toledo. In 1619, his son transferred his remains to the church of San Torquato, which was later demolished, resulting in the loss of his coffin. The inventory drawn up by his son after El Greco's death listed 143 completed paintings, 45 plaster or clay models, 150 drawings, 30 designs for altarpieces, and 200 engravings. (From Wikipedia)
