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

St Francis Receiving the Stigmata

1570-72
Tempera on panel, 28,8 x 20,6 cm
Private collection

Like his other devotional paintings executed on panel, El Greco almost certainly painted this picture as an image for private and intimate contemplation. Its technique is similar to that of icon painting, displaying a highly finished, enamel-like surface. The painting, signed on the lower left, was probably executed in the early 1570s soon after his arrival in Rome.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 33 minutes):
Michael Haydn: St Francis Mass