El Greco was born on 1 October 1541 in Heraklion. A painter, sculptor and architect, El Greco was born Doménikos Theotokópoulos on the island of Crete, then ruled by Venice, and trained in the Byzantine icon-painting tradition. He moved to Venice, where he studied the work of Titian and Tintoretto, and then to Rome, and in 1577 settled in Toledo, Spain. There he developed a highly personal style with elongated figures, intense colour and dramatic light, most famously in The Burial of the Count of Orgaz and in View of Toledo. His art did not fit the taste of the royal court, and he was largely forgotten after his death, but modern artists, including Picasso and the Expressionists, rediscovered him.
Before and after
- from 18 July 1539 to 6 August 1539Siege of Castelnuovo
- 1540Birth of Francis Drake
- 1540Construction of Westminster Abbey
- 1541Founding of Santiago
- 1 October 1541Birth of El Greco
- from 20 October 1541 to 1 November 1541Algiers expedition
- 1542New Laws
- from 1542 to 1801Kingdom of Ireland
- 14 February 1542Founding of Guadalajara
More in Art, literature & culture
- c. 1500sMona Lisa
- 18 April 1506Construction of St. Peter's Basilica
- from 31 October 1517 to 1 January 1648Protestant Reformation
- 31 October 1517Origins of Lutheranism
- 1 January 1519Origins of Reformed Christianity
- from 17th century to 19th centuryAge of Enlightenment
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.