El Greco: The Burial of the Count of Orgaz
New York, NY: Thames & Hudson, 1995. Hardcover. Maroon cloth boards with gold gilt cover illustration and spine lettering, beige and color illustrated dust jacket with gold and white lettering, 143 pp., color illustrations throughout. VG-/VG- (scratch to cover cloth/through lower half of emblem, all pages clear and intact - dust jacket has closed tear to front cover). Item #180120
ISBN: 9780500237021
"The Burial of the Count of Orgaz is a key work in the Mannerist tradition and a supreme achievement of the human spirit ... It is appropriate therefore that a whole book should be devoted to this single painting - a painting whose subject is both particularized and universal. Painted between 1586 and 1588 for the church of Santo Tome in Toledo, it was commissioned to commemorate the funeral of Don Gonzalo Ruiz of Toledo, Lord of Orgaz. At this legendary event which has taken place two and a half centuries earlier, the congregation saw St. Stephen and St. Augustine descend from heaven to place the body in its tomb. El Greco not only painted the scene as it was described but turned it into a mystical vision of Heaven and Earth, with the Virgin and John the Baptist interceding before Christ, surrounded by saints and angels. The painting is reproduced in all its glory in this magnificent book, bringing the reader face to face with its splendor, its rich colors and its incredible expressiveness. Shown in a series of enlarged details that magnify every minute embellishment and brushtroke. An introductory text by Francisco Calvo Serraller, Professor of the History of Art at the Complutense University, Madrird, describes the circumstance of the commission, analyzes the composition, and includes a brief biography of the artist - providing an informative commentary that both enhances and illuminates this unique view of a supreme work of art." - dust jacker description.
OCLC: 32679596
Price: $28.00