Survival and Revival of the Byzantine Tradition in the Art of El Greco
Keywords:
El Greco, postbyzantine art, iconography, image of ChristAbstract
There is no doubt that El Greco was connected with Byzantine and Postbyzantine art. He was trained as an icon painter in Crete and certain elements (formal or iconographic) of Byzantine or Postbyzantine art are evident in his Toledo period. In his comments to The Lives of Vasari we read that El Greco appreciated icon painting (la manera griega enseña de difi cultades ingeniosas) more than the art of Giotto. I think that the elements of Byzantine art are obvious in his rendering of drapery, where he uses typical white highlights — an important feature expressing divine light, derivated from icon painting.
An example of revival of Byzantine iconography also can be seen in the image of Christ. El Greco painted the iconographic type of Christ Pantocrator several times. In the structure of Christ’s face we can observe, how El Greco used a Byzantine model. Also the rhomboidal form of Christ’s halo is derivated from a halo used in Byzantine and Postbyzantine art, which originally formed part of a star-like halo of the Divine Wisdom.
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