Episode 16: - El Greco Loco / Mannerist Mayhem - “The Annunciation” - 1597
El Greco, The Annunciation, 1597. Oil on canvas. 10’ x 7’.
Stephanie and Russell are back with another serving and boy, is it a R-O-M-P!
Be sure to listen to all the cuts that didn’t make it into the episode on our Patreon.
This week, join them as they head further back into Art History than ever before – to the 16th century to introduce El Greco, a catalyst of Modern Art.
Looking to make it big, El Greco left the island life of Crete for the bustling Italian cities of Venice and Rome. There, he picked up traits from Renaissance and Mannerism styles and added some hometown Post-Byzantine spice – resulting in a bizarre yet stunning combination of colors and dynamic compositions never before seen in art history. He also made some friends - and enemies - along the way.
Despite the Counter Reformation’s harsh grip on Europe, EG was still able to thrive utilizing his strange style (that echoed his eccentric personality) to continually score commissions while managing to stand out amongst his contemporaries.
After his death, he was mostly forgotten about until his rediscovery in the 19th century. Modern artists of the 20th century claimed him since he laid the groundwork for breaking visual tradition. And it was famous works like The Annunciation (1597) that caught the eye of Remedios Varo and Pablo Picasso among other art giants like Paul Cezanne.
Stephanie and Russell discuss the first iterations of abstraction present in The Annunciation (1597) in which a teenage Mary is receiving heavenly news from towering angels and a turbulent celestial cloud column with floating cherub heads.
Topics include: the rebranding of the Catholic Church (RC²), a lotta olives, trash talking Michelangelo (not us), long babies, miniature galleries for rats, time travel, and a plushie Remedios Varo mascot.
There is no Art Pantry this week.
The song featured in this episode was “A Forest for me and You” by Komiku from the album A Tale is Never Forgotten which can be found here. Consider supporting their work!
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El Greco, Dormition of the Virgin, 1565. Tempera, gold leaf on panel. 2′ 0″ x 1′ 6″. Post-Byzantine.
Venice, Italy where El Greco lived from c. 1560-65.
Venice, Italy.
Titian, Bacchuss and Ariadne, 1520-23. Oil on canvas. 69.5 in × 75 in. Italian Renaissance (Venetian).
Parmigianino, Madonna with the Long Neck, 1535. Medium. 85 in × 52 in. Mannerism.
Details of El Greco Mannerist hands. Source.
El Greco paints his friend, Portrait of Giulio Clovio, c. 1571. Oil on canvas. 23” × 34”. Clovio was considered the ‘Michelangelo of Miniature Painting’.
Rome, Italy where El Greco lived from c. 1570-77.
View of Palazzo Farnese courtyard, designed by Michelangelo, where El Greco stayed in Rome until he was banished for his bad behavior.
Michelangelo, David, 1501-04. Carrara marble. 17 feet. Italian Renaissance.
Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Detail, 1508-12. Fresco. Italian Renaissance.
Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel Ceiling, 1508-12. Fresco. 133′ 0″ x 46′ 0″. Italian Renaissance.
El Greco, The Annunciation, 1597. Oil on canvas. 10’ x 7’.
El Greco, Self Portrait, 1600. Oil on canvas. 20.7 in × 18.4 in
El Greco, View of Toledo, 1596-1600. Oil on canvas. 47.8 in × 42.8 in
El Greco, View and Plan of Toledo, 1608-1610. Oil on canvas.
Picasso studied this work in artist and collector Julian Zuloaga’s studio: El Greco, The Opening of the Fifth Seal (Vision of Saint John), 1608-1614. Oil on canvas. 7′ 5″ x 6′ 7″
Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907. Oil on canvas. Cubism. 96 in × 92 in.
Partly inspired by El Greco’s Opening of the Fifth Seal (Vision of St. John).
Remedios Varo, The Escape, 1961. Oil on canvas.
Franz Marc, Blue Horse 1, 1911. Oil on Canvas. Expressionism (Der Blau Reiter).
Paul Cezanne, View of Mount Sainte-Victoire, c. 1887. Oil on Canvas. Somewhere between Impressionism and Cubism.
Russell envisioning the El Greco / Michelangelo split
