The Doña María de Aragón Altarpiece was an altarpiece painted between 1596 and 1599 by

El Greco Doménikos Theotokópoulos (, ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco (; "The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance, regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. ...

for the chapel of the Colegio de la Encarnación (also known as the Colegio de doña María de Aragón) in Madrid. The college was secularised during Goya's lifetime and the altarpiece was dismantled. There has been much speculation over which paintings belonged to the work. The consensus view is that it consisted of six large canvases and a seventh, now lost. Five of those six canvases are now in the

Prado The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th century, based on ...

and the sixth is in the

National Museum of Art of Romania The National Museum of Art of Romania () is located in the Royal Palace in Revolution Square, central Bucharest. It features collections of medieval and modern Romanian art, as well as the international collection assembled by the Romanian r ...

in Bucharest.

History

In 1596 El Greco undertook to make the altarpiece for the church of the college, a seminary of the Augustinian order. The popular name alludes to María de Córdoba y Aragón, the patron who paid for the works, lady of Queen Anne of Austria and daughter of Don Álvaro de Córdoba, senior knight of Philip II.Monasterio de Doña María de Aragón
''madridhistorico.com'' El Greco was commissioned by the Council of Castile, which had taken charge of the works after the death of Doña María. There are documents that attest that it was to be done in three years and the work was valued at just over sixty-three thousand reales, the highest price he got in his life. However, there are no references to the number of paintings that formed it, nor to the structure of the altarpiece, nor to the subject matter. Ceán Bermúdez, two centuries later, said that the paintings dealt with the cycle of the life of Christ.Ruiz Gómez, op. cit., p.75

Composition

Names, dimensions and museums

File:Resurreccion Prado.jpg, Resurrection
1597-1600
275 x 127 cm
(

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

) File:La crucifixión (El Greco, 1597).jpg, Crucifixion
1597-1600
312 x 169 cm
(

) File:El Greco 006.jpg, Pentecost
1597-1600
275 x 127 cm
(

) File:Adoración de los pastores Bucarest(2).jpg, Adoration of Shepherds
1597-1600
364 x 137 cm

(

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

) File:Anunciacion Prado(2).jpg, Annunciation
1597-1600
315 x 174 cm
(

) File:Greco Bautismo de Cristo 1597.jpg, Baptism of Christ
1597-1600
315 x 144 cm
(

)

Bibliography (in Spanish)

* Pita Andrade, ''José Manuel'' (1985). El Greco. Carrogio SA de Ediciones. . * Cossío, Manuel B. (1965). ''El Greco.'' Espasa Calpe Argentina, S.A. . * Gudiol, José (1982). ''El Greco.'' Ediciones Poligrafa S.A. . * Tazartes, Mauricia (2004). «Las Obras Maestras». ''El Greco.'' 2005 Unidad Editorial S.A. . * Buendía, José Rogelio (1988). «El Greco, humanismo y pintura». ''El Greco.'' Sarpe. . * Ruiz Gómez, Leticia (2007). ''El Greco.'' Museo Nacional del Prado. .

References

External links

Entry on the Museo del Prado website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dona Maria de Aragon Altarpiece Paintings by El Greco 1590s paintings Paintings of the Crucifixion of Jesus Musical instruments in art Altarpieces