The Burial of Count Orgaz
Factual Information:
From: Santo Tomé, Toledo, Spain
Period: 1586
Period: 1586
General Information:
The Burial of Count Orgaz was a painting by El Greco, a Spanish painter during the Spanish Renaissance, with the Burial of Count Orgaz being of his finest works. The painting is divided into two very large sections, a celestial realm, and a earthly one. The painting is centered around a theme from spain, a legend. The legend goes that Count Orgaz was such a pious and good man, that he left a large sum of money for the adornment of a church, and was considered a philanthropist and a good knight. The legend states that when he was buried, Saint Stephen and Saint Augustine descended from heaven to bury him with their own hands. Greco shows intense emotion with his heavy style and black lines showing the worldly men and women, with golden and flowing style on the heavenly figures. Greco is often called a mannerist because of the style of his paintings, but however, people often think he is not one because his paintings were done with concern for the emotion of the scene and conveying religious passion, which mean that it is not a mannerist style.
Why This Artwork?
During this time, Spain was still very Catholic, this painting was chosen to better articulate the change in various regions, but the rather constant style of the Catholic regions. Also this painting was chosen to better show the styles present in Spain, and how they differed from different regions of Europe.