Mount Sinai
El Greco·1570
Historical Context
El Greco's Mount Sinai of around 1570, one of his earliest surviving works, depicts the sacred mountain where Moses received the tablets of the Law in the Byzantine icon tradition that formed his earliest artistic formation in Crete. The painting reflects El Greco's beginnings as an icon painter trained in the Cretan school, the gold background and the formal composition belonging to Byzantine convention rather than the Western Renaissance tradition he was absorbing in Venice at approximately this date. The work is significant for the light it sheds on El Greco's formation before his Italian period.
Technical Analysis
The painting shows El Greco's Italian-period handling with the sacred mountain rendered in warm Mediterranean tones, before the cooler, more mystical palette of his Spanish works developed.
