Toledo, circa 1610. El Greco’s workshop responds to the growing demand for devotional portraits. Saint Andrew, the first disciple of Christ, comes to life under the brushes of the Cretan master’s collaborators. This reduced replica testifies to the meteoric success of El Greco’s style among Spanish faithful.
A Vibrant Spiritual Figure
The apostle stands against a turbulent sky, blending stormy grays and deep blues. His elongated silhouette, characteristic of late Mannerism, seems to defy the laws of anatomy. El Greco favors spiritual expressiveness over physical verisimilitude. The saint’s emaciated face, crossed by a white beard, expresses intense meditation. The drapery undulates in complex folds: luminous olive green, deep black. The X-shaped cross, instrument of his martyrdom according to Christian tradition, structures the composition vertically. The canvas reveals a nervous technique, rapid touches that animate the pictorial surface.
A Prosperous Workshop in the Golden Age
This work comes from El Greco’s workshop, a common production system in 17th-century Spain. The painting reproduces a more monumental composition preserved at the Prado in Madrid (circa 1595). These workshop replicas allowed the master’s style to reach a pious clientele eager for sacred images.
El Greco
Domenikos Theotokopoulos, known as El Greco (1541-1614), arrived in Spain around 1577. This Cretan painter developed a unique visionary style in Toledo, combining Byzantine heritage with Venetian audacity. His workshop became one of the most active in Castile.
A Question for You
💭 Observe these unreal colors and elongated proportions. Why did El Greco choose to distort reality to better express the sacred, when his contemporaries favored naturalism?
About this Work
- Saint Andrew
- Workshop of El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos)
- circa 1610
- Oil on canvas
- 109.9 × 64.1 cm
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436577
