The Holy Trinity. El Greco

This painting portrays the Holy Trinity.

God the Father holds on his lap the body of his dead Son, Jesus Christ.

The Son appears painted in brown colours.

These colours are like the colours of the earth.

The facial expression of both is serene and calm.

The dove, which symbolises the Holy Spirit, flies above the Father.

The angels that surround the Father and the Son express sorrow and sadness.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the 3 persons in God who make up the Trinity.

The Trinity is a fundamental belief of Christians.

Greco created this painting for the main altarpiece in the convent of Santo Domingo el Antiguo in Toledo.

An altarpiece is a structure behind the altar in churches.

The altarpiece usually contains paintings or sculptures of religious scenes, such as episodes from the Bible or from the life of the Virgin Mary and saints.

This painting was at the top of the altarpiece, high above the ground.

Greco painted the figures so that the faithful in the church could see them from below.

That is the reason for the position of the figures in the painting, their monumental size and their sculpture-like forms.

The shapes of the figures and the colours that Greco used in this painting reflect what he learned in Italy.

For example, the colour El Greco used for Jesus Christ comes from the style of the Venetian painter Tintoretto.

The large size of the body of Jesus Christ was an inspiration from the artist Michelangelo.

For the composition and arrangement of the figures, El Greco used a similar painting of this scene by the German artist Dürer.

Greco received the request for this painting from the convent when he arrived in Spain after a few years in Italy.

After this first painting, he received another request to paint 3 other altarpieces for the same convent.