Doménikos Theotokópoulos, called El Greco

El Greco, born Doménikos Theotokópoulos, was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. He was born in Heraklion in 1541 and died in Toledo on 7 April 1614.

“El Greco” was a nickname. He usually signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, often adding Κρής, a Greek word meaning “Cretan.” He is counted among the greatest artists of all time. His work is linked with the Spanish Renaissance and with Mannerism, and besides painting he worked as a sculptor, an architect and an architectural draftsman.

His best-known works include View of Toledo, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest, The Martyrdom of St. Maurice, Opening of the Fifth Seal, Laocoön, the Dormition of the Virgin and the Modena Triptych. His paintings are held by museums including the Museo del Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, the Uffizi Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick Collection, the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago.

The Assumption of the Virgin, the painting shown here, is oil on canvas and dates from 1577–79. It was the central part of an altarpiece that was his first major Spanish commission and a large public work. The Virgin rises upward on a crescent moon, a symbol of her purity, while the apostles react with amazement and concern. The Art Institute of Chicago notes that its broad brushwork and bold color made it a favorite of modern artists such as Pablo Picasso and Mary Cassatt.

The canvas measures 403.2 by 211.8 centimeters. It was given to the Art Institute by Nancy Atwood Sprague in memory of Albert Arnold Sprague and belongs to the museum’s Painting and Sculpture of Europe department.