GRECO, El
(b. 1541, Candia, d. 1614, Toledo)

Annunciation

1595-1600
Oil on canvas, 91 x 66,5 cm
Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest

Proof of El Greco's popularity among his contemporaries are the numerous replicas of a number of his pictures, painted by himself, which are still extant. Their quality is such that in several cases it is difficult to determine which was the original and which the replica. One of these is The Annunciation with its various shades of sparkling pearl-grey, with the painter's signature in Greek letters in the left-hand corner of the picture. The painting in the Toledo Museum of Arts (Ohio, USA) is the closest to that in Budapest.