El Greco

El Greco was born named Dominikos Theotokopoulos, in 1541 in Iraklion. He studied Byzantine art and became familiar with western arts. Around 1567 he moved to Italy. While there, in order to be able to work and avoid prosecution by the Church, he changed his faith from Orthodox to Roman Catholic.

After creating several paintings, on commission for significant personalities of the era, he took a gamble and left for Spain in 1577, hoping to find work at the newly-built royal monastery and palace of El Escorial.

Although he did not manage to fulfil his wish, El Greco quickly became famous in Spain and started painting again. In the years that followed he received many commissions from ecclesiastical institutions as well as individuals, creating a wide array of paintings.

El Greco died in Toledo, in 1614. Among his masterpieces are The Disrobing of Christ (1577-1579), The Burial of Count Orgaz (1586), a portrait of Saint Louis (1587-1597), The Baptism of Christ (1596-1600), The Agony in the Garden (1597-1603), The Adoration of the Shepherds (1612-1614),  and a number of representations of Toledo's landscapes.