Greek-born Spanish Mannerist Painter, 1541-1614
Considered a representative of late Renaissance Spanish art, El Greco was actually born in Greece, on the island of Crete. After studying in Venice under Titian, El Greco settled in Toledo, Spain in 1577. At the time he was wildly popular, his emotionally religious paintings being just the ticket for the hometown of the Spanish Inquisition. After his death his work was largely ignored until the beginning of the 20th century; now he considered one of the inspired geniuses of Western art. His distinctive style features bold shapes and colors, with elongated and slightly distorted figures.
In Toledo El Greco was in constant demand and liked living large: he maintained a private orchestra to accompany his meals. Related Paintings of El Greco :. | apostlarna petrus och paulus | The Modena Triptych | christ on the mount of olives | View of Toledo | Apostles Peter and Paul | Related Artists:
Agnolo GaddiItalian Early Renaissance Painter, ca.1345-1396
Son of Taddeo Gaddi. Through both his brother Giovanni and his father, Agnolo was heir to the Giottesque tradition and to a successful family enterprise, which he directed with enormous success up to the turn of the 15th century. He is first mentioned as a painter in 1369, when he assisted his brother Giovanni and Giovanni da Milano in decorations for Urban V (reg 1362-70) in the Vatican. Although he probably did not assume full responsibility for the workshop until his brother Giovanni death, he must have begun accepting his own commissions as early as the 1370s. The nature of his early work and whether it included an altarpiece dated 1375 (Parma, G.N., 435), however, remains a matter of debate. Logical or likely though it may be, the notion that this early activity developed out of his brother Giovanni still little-known art is hypothetical. Whereas the works grouped around Giovanni name are all small panels, Agnolo was an artist who, like his father, excelled in wall painting. Indeed, three monumental fresco cycles (see below), in the Castellani Chapel (painted c. 1384) and the choir (painted c. 1388-93) of Santa Croce, Florence, and the chapel of the Sacra Cintola (doc. 1393-5) in Prato Cathedral, constitute the artist most notable surviving works and offer a basis for reconstructing the content and chronology of his oeuvre.
Mikolajus Ciurlionis1875-1911 Lithuanian
Mikolajus Ciurlionis Locations
Lithuanian painter and composer. He studied with Noskowski in Warsaw and with Jadassohn and Reinecke at the Leipzig Conservatory (1901). His music makes use of invented modes, colourful harmony and autonomous rhythms; he wrote much for the piano as well as orchestral and chamber music. He was also famous as a painter.
samuel taylor coleridgeBorn: 21 October 1772
Birthplace: Devonshire, England
Died: 25 July 1834 (heart attack)
Best Known As: The author of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner