El GRECO
Greek-Spanish c.1541–1614
Portrait of a cardinal
c.1600–05
oil on canvas
57.0 x 46.0 cm
Felton Bequest 1950
2253–4

We know that this work, showing the bust of a young bearded man wearing the red mantle of a cardinal of the Roman Church, was once a three-quarter-length portrait. Attempts to identify the subject have proved inconclusive.

El Greco moved from Italy to Spain in 1577 and was highly regarded by his contemporaries there for capturing the otherworldliness of his subjects. He achieved this by the dramatic interplay of light and dark, the elongation of human proportions and the careful manipulation of facial expressions.

His unique style synthesises Byzantine traditions of his homeland and the mannerist style of sixteenth century Venice, but there is no doubt that the artist also absorbed much from the brooding spirituality of Counter-Reformation Spain