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El Greco, 'Allegory of the Holy League', 1577-9

 

Full of complexities, this painting overloads the eye with detail. With multiple different titles proposed, the painting is both devotional, cultural and political. The career of the artist himself is just as unique. El Greco grew up learning the ways of the Cretan icon painter. His early works in Greece are defined by a propensity towards gold, elongation and a flattened picture space, all motifs of Byzantine art. Deciding to try his luck in Italy, he travelled through Venice and to Rome, hoping to gain commissions from key patrons. Establishing these cultural links, he synthesised the Italian Renaissance style and interest in colore of the Venetians with his Cretan roots as an icon painter. It was natural for him to visit Venice as Crete was among the key territories of the lagoon city. However, Rome was unsuccessful for him, and his final move was to Spain. In 1577, after having been unsuccessful yet again in Madrid, he went to Toledo, where he would paint his final works and ultimately die there. Despite these many moves, he retained his Cretan heritage, continuing to sign works with his Greek name. El Greco was the definition of a travelling artist, and this painting shows how he melded together the various artistic styles he encountered on his travels for success. 

The stacked perspective of the piece, one could argue, is Byzantine in origin. The Venetians utilised it however, to show the separation between earthly and heavenly planes. Titian's Assunta altarpiece produced for the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari uses this stacked perspective and was a key influence on El Greco's work of the same subject. As well as this, El Greco retains his interest in the gold background. He combines this with a variety of colours, and generally the whole painting seems to be lit from within. This is aided by the billowing draperies and curvature of the heavenly realm that gives more body and a three dimensional feel to the piece. The artist has also referenced Medieval imagery - the mouth of hell and purgatory appears in the bottom right, personified as a sea monster, recalling paintings by Hieronymus Bosch. Moreover, there appears to be a bridge depicted receding into the background, a reference to the bridge of souls where the dead pass over, suspended over the flaming pit of judgement. A description of the bridge actually occurs in the 1499 publication of the Hyponerotomachia Poliphili. This antiquarian fantasy journey was a huge influence on Venetian art and beyond. It is likely images and descriptions from the book would have been widely circulated. 

All of these stylistic choices by El Greco can be pointed out, but they provide no extra information about what this painting is actually about. As the Allegory of the Holy League title suggests, it could be a commemorative piece of the Battle of Lepanto. These were not uncommon - both Titian and Veronese completed their own versions. The victory was said to be a divine miracle, which alludes to the heavenly plane represented here. Most importantly, portraits of the Holy League appear in the foreground. We can pick out Pope Pius V kneeling at the head of the faithful onlookers in his papal robes, facing the viewer. Beside him we see portraits of Philip II who commissioned the piece, and the Doge of Venice, all founders of the Holy League that defeated the Ottomans. Don Juan of Austria may also be present, although this has been disputed. Anthony Blunt has gone further - Don Juan died in 1578, his body returned to Spain in 1579 so this painting could become a kind of commemorative portrait to him too. As well as this, the painting has also been given the name Adoration of the Holy Name of Jesus, because the name of Christ appears in Greek in the top centre. Again, El Greco continues to honour his Greek roots. The painting's true meaning thus remains elusive. There is no record of where the painting was originally hung. After this commission and Saint Maurice, El Greco received no more commissions from Philip II; he would never make his successes as a court artist. He continued painting for private patrons in Toledo, mostly ecclesiastical devotions. This panting remains a blip in his oeuvre, one of complexities and ambiguities merging together Greek, Italian and Spanish artistic motifs.

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