Title: Christ on the Cross

Artist: El Greco

Christ on the Cross About 1600 El Greco (Doménikos Theotokópoulos) Greek, 1541–1614 Oil on canvas El Greco left his native Crete to seek fame in Venice and Rome before settling in Toledo, Spain. There he was free to develop a highly expressive personal style, manipulating figure proportions, light effects, and facial expressions. His style appealed to the ardent religious spirit of his adopted city because it was particularly well suited to representing the divine. In this painting for private devotion, Christ’s languid figure is revealed by a flickering supernatural light as storm clouds darken the sky. The painter appealed to the viewer’s emotions by concentrating on Christ’s tearful, longing communion with God the Father at the moment of his death.