Domenikos Theotokopoulos, called El Greco

Acquired by Ignacio Zuloaga (1870 – 1945) by 1903, when photographed hanging in the studio of his father Plácido Zuloaga, Eibar, the Basque Country, Spain;
Believed to have been taken in 1910, on the death of Plácido Zuloaga and the sale of his house and studio, to Ignacio Zuloaga’s house in Paris;
In 1914 returned to Spain to Ignacio Zuloaga’s newly built house Santiago Echea in Zumaia, the Basque Country;
In 1921 moved to the Zuloaga Museum, Zumaia, where it remained until recently.

Geneva, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Du Greco à Goya. Chefs-d’oeuvre du Prado et des collections espagnoles, June – September 1989, no. 4 (as El Greco);
Iraklion, Càmara de Comercio y Basílica de San Marcos, El Greco of Crete, September - October 1990, no. 14 (as El Greco);
Madrid, Thyssen- Bornemisza (3 February - 16 May 1999); Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni (2 June - 19 September 1999), El Greco, Identity and Transformation, no. 47 (as El Greco).

M.B. Cossio, El Greco, Madrid 1908, no. 333 (as El Greco);
A.L. Mayer, Dominico Theotocopuli, El Greco, Munich 1928, no. 93 (as El Greco, circa 1587-90);
J. Camón Aznar, Dominico Greco, Madrid 1950, pp. 648-49, no. 169 (as El Greco, circa 1587-90);
H. Soehner, ‘Greco in Spanien. Teil II: Atelier und Nachfolge Grecos’, in Munchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst, vol. IX-X, 1958-59, no. 148 (as workshop of El Greco);
H.E. Wethey, El Greco and His School, Princeton 1962, vol. I, p. 46, no. 67 (as El Greco and Workshop, circa 1585-1590);
T. Frati, L’opera completa del Greco, Milan 1969, no. 61a (as El Greco, circa 1585-95);
J. Camón Aznar, Dominico Greco, revised edition, Madrid 1970, p. 655, no. 176 (as El Greco);
G.R. Allen, El Greco: Two Studies, Philadelphia 1984, pp. 11-30 (as El Greco);
D. Davies, El Greco and the Spiritual Reform Movements in Spain, in J. Brown y J.M. Pita Andrade (eds.), Washington 1984, pp. 66 and 69;
Du Greco à Goya. Chefs-d’oeuvre du Prado et des collections espagnoles, exhibition catalogue, Geneva 1989, no. 4 (as El Greco);
El Greco of Crete, exhibition catalogue, Iraklion 1990, no. 14 (as El Greco);
J. Alvarez Lopera, El Greco. La obra esencial, Madrid 1993, no. 120 (as El Greco and studio);
El Greco Identity and Transformation, exhibition catalogue, Milan 1999, pp. 400-01, no. 47, reproduced p. 286 (as El Greco, circa 1587-96).

The following condition report is provided by Sarah Walden, who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has a fairly old but firm relining. Although there has been past flaking in places, there is no sign of any present insecurity in the paint and the picture is structurally stable. There has also been some old accidental damage, but fortunately this has only affected the background, where old repairs have been retouched. This restoration probably dates from the first half of the twentieth century, although the accidental damage could be far older, as large canvasses always tend to have suffered a certain number of knocks, which may have been painted out before in previous periods. The central figure however is largely beautifully intact. The fine detail of the brushwork for instance in the head and upper body is pure and unworn, as is the powerful depiction of the feet and lower legs. Around the loin cloth and the thighs there has been some old flaking. This has recently been retouched, where old retouching had discoloured. Some wear in the lower right landscape has also been touched out recently, as were some discoloured marks in the cross bar of the cross itself and some imperfect repaint in the background. Clearly past restoration was careful to avoid intruding into the figure itself however, which remains in remarkably good condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This powerful and dramatic depiction of Christ on the Cross by El Greco can be dated to the artist’s full maturity, around 1600-10, and is one of only three surviving large-scale versions of this composition by the great master. The subject of Christ on the cross is the central image in Christian art, signifying the potential moment of man’s redemption and delivery from the original sin of Adam, and it was treated by El Greco throughout his career, from his formative years in Italy during the early 1570s until the lead up to his death in Toledo in 1614. The present work is characterised by the artist’s highly distinctive and idiosyncratic style which combines an international mannerist tradition with his very own mystic and spontaneous expressionism to create an image of great power and an ideal focus for spiritual contemplation.

In the present rendering of the subject El Greco has chosen to use the ‘Cristo Vivo’ iconography, in which the Christ figure is shown alive and without indication of His suffering or wounds, thereby emphasising His spiritual condition rather than His physical state. The original source for the figure of Christ is almost certainly a drawing by Michelangelo that was commissioned by Vittoria Colonna and is today in the British Museum (see Fig. 1). El Greco would have known the work of Michelangelo from his sojourn in Rome early on in his career, in around 1571-72 (prior to his departure for Spain in around 1576), but he most probably knew this particular design from a print, a notion supported by the reversal of the figure of Christ in our painting from the original drawing.

El Greco’s earliest known treatment of the subject of Christ on the Cross dates from circa 1573-74, when the artist was working in Venice and Rome. The composition is known in four autograph versions, yet in contrast to the monumental size of the present work, these early pictures were painted as small-scale images for private devotion, as well as on a variety of different supports.¹ The latest in date of the versions, which recently emerged from a private collection in Spain (see Fig. 2), was painted in the period immediately following El Greco’s arrival in Spain (circa 1576-78). It is striking how similar the overall design of this early treatment is to the present work, despite being painted some twenty to thirty years earlier. The figure of Christ displays a similar Michelangesque monumentality and the cross is positioned in a landscape stripped of all but the barest narrative detail to enhance the focus on Christ’s sacrifice - a design in all probability inspired by Titian’s Crucifixion of around 1554 in the Monasterio del Escorial.²  As in the present work, the figure of Christ is set against a dramatic, almost abstract sky, dominated by dark clouds, tinged with supernatural light from the eclipse of the sun, capturing the moment in the gospels when darkness covered the earth.³  Already in this early treatment El Greco makes use of the strong converging diagonals, or ‘X’ shape, through the formation of the dark clouds, leading the eye of the beholder to the central figure of Christ, right at the heart of the painting and indeed the Christian faith. 

El Greco returned to the subject of Christ on the Cross in around 1585-90 in his full-scale altarpiece of Christ on the Cross with Donors, commissioned for the side chapel in the Royal Convent of the Visitation in Toledo, and today in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (see Fig. 3).⁴  The sheer scale of the work and the audacious inclusion of the two donors distinguish it from the artist’s earlier design, but here for the first time the artist employs Michelangelo’s drawing as the direct model for the figure of Christ, which he would later reuse in the present treatment. In handling the Louvre painting marks a development in the artist’s style from his earlier essay in the subject, through the use of bold, almost impressionistic brushstrokes to render the form of the clouds and the use of silvery highlights in the modelling of Christ’s body, a legacy from El Greco’s direct knowledge of the work of the great Venetian colourists. 

The present work is likely to have been painted a decade or two following the Louvre altarpiece. In the overall design of the composition El Greco has assimilated his two earlier treatments by placing the model of Christ from the Louvre altarpiece into a landscape setting similar to his first treatment of the subject. Stylistically however the present work belongs to El Greco’s later more mannered style that he developed towards the end of the 16^th century. The contorted body of Christ has become narrower and more elongated than in the Louvre painting and the torso is modelled through an increased contrast of light and shade to generate a greater sense of movement. The overall palette has darkened and Christ’s starkly lit figure is set against a background of black cloud, tinged with incandescent light, for increased dramatic effect, whilst a supernatural light falls on the trees and landscape below, where a line of figures and soldiers turn their backs on Christ and make for the city of Jerusalem. In regard to the narrative, El Greco appears to have chosen to depict the moment when Christ looks up to the heavens to cry out to God the Father: ‘My god, my God, why hast thou forsaken me’, whilst at the foot of the cross the skulls and bones have been incorporated to remind the onlooker of Christ’s triumph over original sin and the potential for man’s salvation.⁵ 

El Greco must have particularly favoured the present design of Christ on the Cross, for the painting exists in numerous autograph and studio versions in both large and reduced format. In addition to the present work, two other large-scale autograph versions (or variants) are known: a painting in the Museum of Cleveland, which is slightly larger (193 by 116 cm.) but omits much of the landscape, and a version of almost identical size to the present work which is recorded as in the collection of the Marqués de la Motilla, Seville. In addition, there are three reduced autograph versions: a signed work (82.5 by 51.8 cm.) sold London, Sotheby’s, 6 July 2000, lot 36, for £3,853,500, today in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (see Fig. 4); another (96.5 by 61 cm.) formerly in the Gutzwiller Collection, Paris, sold New York, Sotheby’s, 19 May 1995, lot 64, for $2.1 million; and a third (95 by 61 cm.) formerly with Wildenstein, New York, today in the Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. 

Scholars are today inclined to date all of these versions towards the end of the artist’s career, around 1600-10, at a time when the artist’s studio played an increased role in his work. A leading academic on El Greco believes that, in keeping with his working practise at this date, the master would have painted a prime original of the composition of Christ on the Cross (now lost) and that all subsequent versions, including the present work, as well as those in Museum of Art, Cleveland, the J. Paul Getty Museum and the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo would have involved a modest degree of assistance from the master’s studio. This modus operandi should perhaps come as no surprise given its proximity to that of late Titian, in whose workshop the young Cretan master is believed to have trained following his arrival in Venice during the early 1570s.

1. The four versions are: a version on canvas (67.5 by 42 cm.) in a private collection, Spain (Fig. 2); a signed version on canvas (43 by 28 cm.) in a North American private collection, sold New York, Christie’s, 31 January 1997, lot 217, for $3,605,000; a version on copper (35 by 26.7 cm.), today in a private collection, Texas; and a version on panel (30.5 by 19.8 cm.), formerly in the collection of Dr. Gregorio Marañon, Madrid, and today in the Caja Castilla La Mancha, Toledo. For the last three see J. Alvarez Lopera, El Greco. Estudio y Catálogo, Madrid 2007, vol. II, part I, pp. 35-37, nos. 5-7, reproduced figures 12-14, respectively.
2. See P. Humfrey, Titian. The Complete Paintings, London 2007, p. 280, cat. no. 211, reproduced.
3. As pointed out by Fabianski, the direct model for El Greco’s figure of Christ in his early treatment of Christ on the Cross appears to be a small sculpture by Giambologna, datable before 1573, which is known in various casts including those in the Palacio de Apostoles, Loreto and the National Gallery, Prague. See M. Fabianski, ‘El Greco in Italia: precisazioni su due quadri’, in Paragone, LIII, no. 46, November 2002, pp. 33-38.
4. Oil on canvas, 250 by 180 cm.
5. Matthew, chapter 27, verse 46.; Mark chapter 15, verse 34.