El Greco, Heraklion’s Favourite Son

Nowadays, most visitors coming into Crete and booking transfers from Heraklion airport have only one objective in mind: fly-and-flop beach holidays. Crete is rapidly gaining the favour of many western European tourists, particularly Britons, who have found in this island a sort of miniaturised version of mainland Greece mixed with a more scenically exotic Ibiza.

Long before the days of beach resorts and transfers from Heraklion airport, however, the Cretan capital’s main claim to fame was having been the birthplace of one El Greco, one of the most important names in Spanish Renaissance art and architecture.

Early life

Born Doménikos Theotokópoulos in 1541, during the Venetian rule of Heraklion (or Candia, as it was called at the time), El Greco (literally ‘The Greek’) was the son of a wealthy merchant and tax collector, and grew up surrounded by post-Byzantine art, of which the Cretan capital was the centre at the time. He began his formal training as an icon painter, in the tradition of the island, and soon achieved the title of ‘master’ within Candia’s painters’ guild. At the age of about twenty-six, he took the next logical step in his career by moving to Venice to continue his art studies.

Very little is known of this period in El Greco’s life, which is believed to have lasted for approximately three years, ending around 1570. A close friend is said to have claimed he was a ‘disciple’ of an aging Titiano, which may indicate that El Greco worked in the old master’s workshop, though probably not under his direct supervision.

From Venice, El Greco moved to Rome, where he continued to innovate in the field of religious representations, bringing influences of dead Roman masters such as Raphael and Michaelangelo into his style. His self-assured attitude and strong, controversial opinions also contributed to making him some enemies during this period, which would culminate in a move to Spain to continue his artistic progression.

Spain

In Spain, El Greco chose Toledo as his home base. As the country’s religious capital, that city was the perfect location for El Greco to hone his religious representation skills, and it was here the artist executed most of his ‘maturity’ output. During this period, which the artist himself viewed as temporary, El Greco began to accept commissions for works for churches and other religious buildings, some of them from Phillip II, king of Spain at the time.

He did not, however, manage to earn the favour of the king, preventing a move away from Toledo; he ended up spending the rest of his days there, working commissions and eventually buying a residential complex. At the time of his death, in 1614, he had resided in Toledo for 37 years.

Posthumous Influence

Centuries after his death, El Greco’s oeuvre would be rediscovered by an entirely new generation, and end up influencing artists such as Pablo Picasso. This proves how influential this Cretan expatriate was, and might encourage tourists arriving on the transfers from Heraklion airport to seek out some of the works of the city’s prodigal son.

Lukas Johannes is a driver for Shuttle Direct. If you’re looking for transfers from Heraklion airport, Shuttle Direct provide pre-booked shuttles to major destinations all over Europe. Wherever you travel, Shuttle Direct can make sure that you don’t miss your car on your holiday abroad.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.