Apostle Saint Andrew
El Greco·1610
Historical Context
El Greco's Apostle Saint Andrew of around 1610, a late version distinct from his earlier treatment, depicts the apostle in the luminous, elongated manner of his final period's series of individual apostle figures. The X-cross of Andrew's martyrdom appears in modified form, and the figure's spiritual absorption creates the characteristic El Greco state of intense inner devotion made visible. These late apostles represent his style at its most formally advanced, the recognizable subject matter providing a conventional frame within which his painterly inventions could reach their furthest development.
Technical Analysis
El Greco renders Andrew with extreme elongation and his late, fluid brushwork, using the apostle's cross as a dramatic compositional element against a characteristically cold, luminous background.
