Burial of Count Orgaz. The Burial of the Count of Orgaz is a 1586 painting by El Greco, a prominent Renaissance painter, sculptor, and architect of Greek origin.
Widely considered among his finest works, it illustrates a popular local legend of his time. An exceptionally large painting, it is divided into two sections, heavenly above and terrestrial below, but it gives little impression of duality, since the upper and lower sections are brought together compositionally.
The painting has been lauded by art scholars, characterized, inter alia, as one of the most truthful pages in the history of Spain, as a masterpiece of Western Art and of late Mannerism, and as the epitome of Greco's artistic style. The theme of the painting is inspired by a legend of the beginning of the 14th century.
In 1312, a certain Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo, mayor of the town of Orgaz, died. Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo was a descendant of the noble Palaiologos family, which produced the last ruling dynasty of the Byzantine Empire.
A pious Caballero, the Count of Orgaz was also a philanthropist, who, among other charitable acts, left a sum of money for the enlargement and adornment of the church of Santo Tome, where he wanted to be buried. According to the legend, at the time the Count was murdered, Saint Stephen and Saint Augustine descended in person from the heavens and buried him by their own hands in front of the dazzled Mer
Widely considered among his finest works, it illustrates a popular local legend of his time. An exceptionally large painting, it is divided into two sections, heavenly above and terrestrial below, but it gives little impression of duality, since the upper and lower sections are brought together compositionally.
The painting has been lauded by art scholars, characterized, inter alia, as one of the most truthful pages in the history of Spain, as a masterpiece of Western Art and of late Mannerism, and as the epitome of Greco's artistic style. The theme of the painting is inspired by a legend of the beginning of the 14th century.
In 1312, a certain Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo, mayor of the town of Orgaz, died. Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo was a descendant of the noble Palaiologos family, which produced the last ruling dynasty of the Byzantine Empire.
A pious Caballero, the Count of Orgaz was also a philanthropist, who, among other charitable acts, left a sum of money for the enlargement and adornment of the church of Santo Tome, where he wanted to be buried. According to the legend, at the time the Count was murdered, Saint Stephen and Saint Augustine descended in person from the heavens and buried him by their own hands in front of the dazzled Mer
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