The Colegio de Nuestra Señora de la Encarnacion (College of Our Lady of the Incarnation), also known as the Colegio de Doña María de Aragón, was an Augustinian seminary in Madrid for the training of priests. Construction of the church began in 1581 and El Greco - who was resident in Toledo and had relatively few contacts in Madrid - was fortunate to obtain the contract for the main altarpiece. The agreement between the painter and the Council of Castile was signed in December 1596 and required El Greco to deliver the altarpiece (including carpentry, sculptures and gilding) by Christmas 1599. The altarpiece was eventually completed in July 1600.

The Doña María de Aragón altarpiece was the most important commission El Greco received and he was paid just under 6000 ducats for it, a vast sum, and more than he earned for any other work. It was here that he first fully realised the traits of his late, 'mystical' style - elongated forms, flickering effects of light, colour combinations that verge on dissonance (copper-resinate green, rose-to-magenta, golden yellow and blue), and an emphasis on ecstatic gestures and expressions.

The altarpiece was dismantled in 1810, following the suppression by Joseph Bonaparte of the religious orders in Spain. No detailed description of it survives, but according to a document of 1814 it comprised seven paintings and six sculptures. There has been much debate in recent years over the altarpiece's original appearance, but there is considerable agreement that it comprised five paintings today in the Prado, The Resurrection, The Crucifixion, The Pentecost, The Baptism of Christ and The Annunciation, and a sixth, The Adoration of the Shepherds, in Bucharest. The seventh painting is presumed lost and it has been suggested that it may have been a Coronation of the Virgin.

Preview	Picture Data	Info
	The Annunciation 1596-1600 Oil on canvas, 315 x 174 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
	The Annunciation (detail) 1596-1600 Oil on canvas Museo del Prado, Madrid
	The Annunciation 1597-1600 Oil on canvas, 114 x 67 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
	The Annunciation (detail) 1597-1600 Oil on canvas Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
	The Annunciation (detail) 1597-1600 Oil on canvas Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
	Adoration of the Shepherds 1596-1600 Oil on canvas, 346 x 137 cm Muzeul National de Arta, Bucharest
	Adoration of the Shepherds (detail) 1596-1600 Oil on canvas Muzeul National de Arta, Bucharest
	The Baptism 1596-1600 Oil on canvas, 350 x 144 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
	The Crucifixion 1596-1600 Oil on canvas, 312 x 169 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
	The Crucifixion (detail) 1596-1600 Oil on canvas Museo del Prado, Madrid
	The Resurrection 1596-1600 Oil on canvas, 275 x 127 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
	The Resurrection (detail) 1596-1600 Oil on canvas Museo del Prado, Madrid
	The Resurrection (detail) 1596-1600 Oil on canvas Museo del Prado, Madrid
	The Pentecost 1596-1600 Oil on canvas, 275 x 127 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid