ABSTRACT
Until the early twentieth century, the only fact known with much certainty about the early years in the life of El Greco was that he was born in Crete. He himself stated as much – indeed, not without some pride,1 though with the passing of time and as he settled into life in his new homeland these references became less frequent2 – in at least twelve of his signed works: ‘Made by Domenikos Theotokopoulos the Cretan’ (Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ὁ Κρὴς ἐποίει).3 Another piece of
1 H.E. Wethey, El Greco and his School, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press 1962, vol. 1, 111, claims that the use of the word ‘Cretan’ by El Greco should not be understood as evidence of excessive pride or vanity with regard to his origins, since a considerable number of Italian painters of the time (e.g. Vasari, Titian, Raphael) frequently signed their works with their name and city or province of origin. However, the reference to his nationality, when considered alongside the fact that throughout his career he unfailingly used Greek when signing his works, suggests that it was more than a simple statement of geographical provenance or imitation of common practice. True, Wethey remarks that it was not unknown for even some Italian artists of the Renaissance to sign, on occasion, their works in Greek, but this was hardly the rule and cannot be compared with the practice of El Greco, whose mother tongue was Greek. See also below, pp. 19-20 notes 13-15. On the unbridled affection of Cretans in this period for their home island when in foreign lands, sometimes expressed in extravagant terms, see N.M. Panagiotakes and A.L. Vincent, ‘Νέα στοιχεῖα γιὰ τὴν Ἀκαδημία τῶν Stravaganti τοῦ Χάνδακα’, Thesaurismata 7 (1970), 63 and note 39, and Panagiotakes, ‘Ὁ ποιητὴς τοῦ Ἐρωτοκρίτου’, Πεπραγμένα τοῦ Δ´ Διεθνοῦς Κρητολογικοῦ Συνεδρίου, vol. 2, Athens, 318 and note 26.
