Saint Benedict

El Greco's Saint Benedict of 1577, one of his early Toledo works, depicts the founder of Western monasticism in the formal Spanish tradition of full-length santo portraiture — the holy figure presented with the attributes of his order and a severity of presence appropriate to the Rule's demanding standards. El Greco had brought from Venice and Rome a painterly sophistication that transformed the convention, the paint surface's freedom and the figure's psychological intensity elevating what might have been a formulaic devotional image into a compelling individual character study.

El Greco renders the monastic saint with the lingering influence of Venetian color alongside his developing tendency toward elongated forms and spiritual intensity that would characterize his mature style.