Dominikos Theotokopoulos (El Greko)
Dominikos Theotokopoulos (known as El Greko) was a painter who came from Handakas of Creta. His paintings depict scenes from religious tradition, because most of them were made to decorated churches. In his work he achieved to harmonically combine elements from Byzantine and Renaissance techniques of painting.
He was born in 1541. He lived his childhood in Handakas and in this where he studied painting and classical studies. In 1567 he left his hometown –he never went back- and went to Venice. There, he studied at painter’s Titsiano workshop and he was influenced by the Venetian School of the Renaissance. Tree years later he moved to Rome. In this city, he met Humanists and Roman mannerists.
In 1577 he left Italy –his legacy of this country was the name El Greko and influences from Renaissance and Mannerism schools- and he went to Spain. He lived the rest of his live there. He settled in Toledo and began to accept orders from churches and foundations. A year later, his wife Geronima de las Couevas gave birth to his son Jorge Manuel, who was his only child. Jorge Manuel became a painter like his father.
Theotokopoulos’ famous paintings are The Disrobing of Christ, The Burial of Count Orgaz. He used to sign his paintings as «Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ο Κρης επείοι».
He died in Toledo in 1614.
