El Greco (Doménikos Theotokópoulos), Greek (born Candia [Heraklion], Crete, then part of the Republic of Venice), (1541-1614). The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, 1586–1588, detail. Oil on canvas, 480 × 360 cm. Church of Santo Tomé, Toledo.
Commissioned in 1586 by Andrés Núñez, parish priest of Santo Tomé, this monumental canvas commemorates the medieval nobleman Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo, lord of Orgaz (d. 1323). According to local tradition recorded in parish documents, Saints Stephen and Augustine descended miraculously to lay his body in the tomb in recognition of his piety and charitable benefactions to the church.
The composition is divided into two clearly articulated zones. The lower register presents the burial attended by clergy and prominent citizens of Toledo, many of whom are understood to be contemporary portraits. Among those traditionally identified are Andrés Núñez and other notable figures of late sixteenth-century Toledo; a young boy at left is widely accepted as Jorge Manuel Theotokópoulos, the artist’s son. The armor-clad body of the Count is borne by Saints Stephen and Augustine, distinguished by their liturgical vestments.
Above, a celestial vision unfolds. Christ presides at the apex, flanked by the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist in an arrangement associated with the Deësis. Apostles, saints, and angels occupy the luminous upper sphere as the Count’s soul, depicted in infant form, is received into heaven. The painting’s elongated forms and heightened verticality exemplify El Greco’s mature manner in Toledo.
Executed between 1586 and 1588, the work remains in its original location in the Church of Santo Tomé, for which it was created, and continues to be documented as one of the most significant large-scale ecclesiastical commissions in late sixteenth-century Spain.
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