On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P02445
- Author
- El Greco (Spanish)
- Title
- Julián Romero and his Patron Saint
- Chronology
- 1594-1604
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 206,7 cm x 127,5 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- No
- Entrance
- LEGADO
- Procedence
- Legacy of Luis de Errazu, 1926
An inscription under the column,
which is actually later than the
painting itself, identifies the
figure portrayed as Julián Romero
“Doer of Deeds,” an outstanding
soldier in the Flemish and Italian
campaigns during the reign of
Felipe II. He died in Cremona in
1578. He wears white robes with the
cross of Santiago, indicating his
membership in that military order,
which he had joined in 1558.
Kneeling with hands clasped in
prayer, he directs his gaze upward
as if to petition his patron saint,
Saint Julian. The latter wears
sixteenth-century military armor
and blue robes with lily flowers,
leading him to be confused with
Saint Louis of France at
times.
The size and composition of this
work make it exceptional among El
Greco's portraits, and it has been
dated much later than Romero's
death, which would make it a
posthumous portrait. These
circumstances, along with certain
errors in the inscription and the
painting's style, raise serious
doubts as to who actually painted
it, and who it portrays.
