Doménikos Theotokópoulos (El Greco)

Doménikos Theotokópoulos, known as El Greco, 'the Greek' (1541–1614), was a Cretan-born painter and one of the most individual artists of the Spanish Renaissance. A Cretan School icon painter, around 1567 he moved to Venice and in 1570 to Rome, where offering to paint over Michelangelo's Last Judgment made him enemies.

In 1577 he settled in Toledo seeking Philip II's favour. Toledo made his name, but after the king disliked his Martyrdom of St Maurice he received no more royal work and stayed for life. In 1586 he took the commission for The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, his best-known work.

Short of money after disputes, he fell ill on a hospital commission and died 7 April 1614; buried in Santo Domingo el Antiguo, he left a 130-volume library. Only later was he hailed as a precursor of Expressionism and Cubism, influencing artists such as Goya and Picasso.