El Greco - Vista de Toledo

«El Greco [a nickname meaning, the Greek], was the only major artist to reside in Toledo, Spain. "Lost" to the art world for 200 years, El Greco is now seen as a forerunner of "modern art," El Greco more interested in causing "emotion" in the viewer than is showing an accurate representation of the world. In his painting, The Disrobing of Christ, El Greco jams people impossibly close to Christ, this "crowding" forcing the viewer to experience the claustrophobic tension of the moment. El Greco then changes history by dressing Jesus (a man of the lower classes) in a red robe -- which wasn't likely, red dye was an expensive luxury in the ancient world -- the red of the robe there to make Jesus "stand out." Nor were the women pictured in the bottom lefthand corner supposed to have attended the "disrobing," the Spanish Inquisition [religious thought-police with teeth] demanding that El Greco remove the women since their presence was not "scriptural." (El Greco was so famous that he beat the Inquisition on this one. Not many did!) His best known painting is View of Toledo. Putting dramatic storm clouds in the background, El Greco then reversed the location of the town's cathedral and castle in order to make a "stronger" picture. Again, this "switching of reality" was done to increase the "feel" of Toledo in a breaking storm, the emotion of the painting its most important aspect. »

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Texto in Introduction to Extra Credit Art Lectures