El Greco, a Cretan painter?

Domenikos Theotokopoulos (widely known as El Greco), was born in Candia (present-day Herakleion), the capital of Venetian Crete. But was he a Cretan painter? Geographically speaking, the obvious answer is ‘yes’. The notion may also have been part of the painter’s identity, because he repeatedly declared his origin as ‘Cretan’ (Κρής) on his signed works. But what did being ‘Cretan’ entail at this particular time? This question cannot be answered on the basis of topography alone. It needs to be regarded from different perspectives, taking into account the nature of sixteenth-century Venetian Crete as a bi-cultural and bi-religious society – a unique environment that nurtured the formative stage of El Greco’s exceptional artistic development.

Angeliki Lymberopoulou is a Lecturer in Byzantine art and culture at The Open University, having joined in April 2004 from the National Gallery in London. She specializes in the artistic production of Venetian Crete (1211-1669). Her research and publications focus primarily on wall paintings and icons; the social context of their production (i.e. the artists and their hybrid clientele); their demand within the local and European Renaissance market; the cross-cultural influences between Byzantine East and (mainly Italian) West; and the heritage of Byzantine art in the Renaissance period. She currently co-manages a Leverhulme funded International Networks project, which examines the representation of Hell on frescoes of Venetian Crete. El Greco is an interest within the broader context of post-Byzantine Cretan icon production. Her most recent publication on the acclaimed master is ‘From Candia to Toledo: El Greco and his art’, in Art and Visual Culture 1100-1600. Medieval to Renaissance, ed. K.W. Woods, London, 2012, pp. 282-325.