The exhibition is open until June 15 at the Museo Del Prado, thanks to the sponsorship of the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado, and includes the works from the altarpieces of the church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo commissioned by El Greco in mid-1577.
In the room we find the works belonging to the main altarpiece of the church. The Assumption is the central work of the altarpiece and the first work done in Spain by El Greco. On the sides of the altarpiece, Saint John the Baptist, Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Benedict were represented in oil on canvas, while in the upper section you can admire the work of The Trinity.
We can also find among the works in the exhibition The Resurrection, a work located to the right of the altarpiece where the artist represents Christ at the moment of rising triumphantly over the place where he was buried and guarded by soldiers. To the left of the altarpiece was The Adoration of the Shepherds, a theme that El Greco had already represented previously. Years after the church was inaugurated, a coat of arms made of wood was added to the Santa Faz, which we can also see in the exhibition.
In mid-1577, having just arrived in Spain, El Greco received the two most important commissions of his career to date: The Spoiling for the cathedral of Toledo and the three altarpieces for the Cistercian monastery of Santo Domingo el Antiguo, one of the oldest monasteries in the city.
To create the main altarpiece and the two side altarpieces of the church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo, Don Diego appointed El Greco at the suggestion of his son Luis de Castilla (c. 1540-1618), who had met the painter in Rome, at the Farnese Palace, in 1571. Thanks to this recommendation, El Greco was able to take on a particularly complex job, where he had to design the structure of the three altarpieces, the five sculptures that crowned the main one and the painting of eight canvases. The conception of the entire ensemble represented a renewal of the traditional Castilian altarpiece. The main altarpiece was organised around a large canvas with the theme of The Assumption, a work to which the rest of the paintings were subordinated: the four saints on the side streets – Saint John the Baptist, Saint John the Evangelist, Saint Bernard and Saint Benedict – and, in the upper body, The Trinity. Years after the church was inaugurated, a coat of arms made of wood that was situated above the central painting was covered with the Holy Face, also a work by El Greco.
The dispersion of El Greco's works in Santo Domingo el Antiguo
With the exception of three paintings that remain in the church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo (the two Saints John and the Resurrection), the rest of the works began to be dispersed from 1830 onwards. At that time, El Greco's appreciation was focused on his early period, influenced by Titian, which made the paintings in this church especially appreciated.
The Assumption
On 13 August 1830, Prince Sebastian Gabriel de Borbón acquired The Assumption for 14,000 reales de vellón. In 1836, the work was confiscated by the Isabelline government and later returned to the Prince in 1859 after his return to the Isabelline side. The Assumption participated in the first exhibition dedicated to El Greco at the Museo del Prado in 1902, and was then sold in October 1904 at the Durand-Ruel gallery in Paris. Finally, it was acquired by Nancy Atwood Sprague, who donated it in 1906 to the Art Institute of Chicago in memory of her husband, Albert Arnold Sprague.
Saint Bernard
In 1830, Prince Sebastian Gabriel de Borbón acquired Saint Bernard and Saint Benedict for 3,000 reales. Both works were confiscated in 1836 by the Isabelline government and deposited in the Museum of the Trinity in 1838. Saint Benedict was not returned to the prince and, in 1872, it moved from the Museum of the Trinity to the Prado.
The Trinity
In 1830, the work was acquired by the sculptor Valeriano Salvatierra, a key figure in the emerging art market. In June 1832, he sold it to Ferdinand VII for 15,000 reales for the Royal Museum, today the Museo Nacional del Prado.
The Holy Face
In 1961, the painting was removed from its altarpiece and sold in 1964 to a private collection.
The Adoration of the Shepherds
In 1956, the work was acquired by Emilio Botín Sanz de Sautuola y López and is in the Botín Foundation Collection.
The reunion of these pictorial works is an artistic event that allows us to enjoy this exceptional collection, El Greco's first production in Spain.
