El Greco's most famous representation of the relationship between Heaven and Earth is The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. In the lower half there is a realistic representation of a burial service with contemporary mourners. Above the mourners' head, an angel spirals heavenwards bearing the soul of the count, in the insubstantial form of a child, to face its private judgment. The celestial vision is characterized by a pronounced elongation and flattening of the painting, following the practice of Pontormo and Tintoretto before him.
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