The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, by El Greco (1586)

Picture49.jpg

Title

The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, by El Greco (1586)

Description

"The painting is related to the architectural space and the legend tells that, during the funeral, two saints from heaven appeared: Saint Augustine (represented as a bearded old man with a tiara) and Saint Stephen (represented as a young man). Under Saint Stephen, as if it were a painting within a painting, we see the representation of the stoning of the martyr himself. These two saints were those who, according to legend, deposited the body of the count in his grave, and this is how they are represented. Those who were present at this event were the knights of the time, and we can assume that all these characters that appear in the work are the portraits of distinguished personalities from Toledo at that time. (...) Like so many other paintings by El Greco, this work is divided into two levels, the lower and the upper. The lower one is the earthly level and the upper one the heavenly level. The first impression we have is that what happens on the lower level is under the designs of the glory of God. The power of God governs and dominates what is happening below. The angel at the center of the composition carries the soul of Gonzalo Ruiz, the Count of Orgaz, in his arms. The painter wanted to represent his soul in the form of a translucent children's figure, introducing it to heavenly glory, with the intersection of the Virgin and Saint John. Behind the Virgin appears Saint Peter with the keys and below are the saints of the Old Testament: King David with the harp, Moses with the tables of the law, and Noah with the ark. Among the group of saints on the right is the portrait of Felipe II." (Translated description from La Cámara del Arte webpage,
https://www.lacamaradelarte.com/2018/05/el-entierro-del-conde-de-orgaz.html, Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20180508021219/https://www.lacamaradelarte.com/2018/05/el-entierro-del-conde-de-orgaz.html)

Gender perspective: The soul of the Count of Orgaz is transferred by the angel to heaven in the form of a very young child, a common representation, together with a pigeon, etc. for the soul after death. This representation implies a new symbolic body instead of the adult male body of the Count at the moment of his death. Although the child may be male or female, the just born baby is near to a representation of a lack of defined gender identity.

Creator

El Greco (1541-1614), (Doménikos Theotokópoulos)

Date

1586

Format

Oil on canvas.
Dimensions: 480 × 360 cm

Geolocation

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