Feb 22, 2008

Christ on the Cross

Christ on the Cross

c. 1600–1610

El Greco

(Spanish, 1541–1614)

Oil on canvas

Framed: 221 x 144 x 10 cm (87 x 56 11/16 x 3 15/16 in.); Unframed: 193 x 116 cm (76 x 45 11/16 in.)

Gift of the Hanna Fund 1952.222

Description

El Greco (Spanish for "the Greek") was trained on his native island, Crete, as a painter of small-scale devotional images (icons). In the late 1560s he moved first to Venice, where he may have worked with Tintoretto (1518-1594), and then to Rome. Finally, he settled in Toledo, Spain. Tintoretto's influence is visible here in the colors and in the elongated figural proportions. The graphic depiction of blood, however, may reflect the Spanish interest in Christ's sufferings as a subject for meditation.

See also
Type of artwork: 
Painting
Medium: 
Oil on canvas

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