The Greeks are leading the rest of the world in the commemoration of El Greco, the artist born Domenikos Theotokopoulos, 400 years after his death. Born on the isle of Crete where he studied iconography he moved to Venice, then Rome, and finally established himself in Toledo Spain.

Crete kicked off El Greco exhibitions with a display titled “El Greco between Venice and Rome at the Historical Museum of Crete in Iraklio. The exhibition dedicated to the painter’s tItalian period opened to the public last June and ran until last month where it was transferred to the Benaki Museum in Athens in an inauguration in the presence of Queen Sofia of Spain on November 21.

Another exhibition is being launched at the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens on December 3. The exhibition will include unique works of art that have never before been presented to the public in Greece or abroad. The exhibition is part of the Greek program of events for the year of El Greco. Light will be shed on the social and artistic environment of 26^th century Crete where he lived before leaving Cndia for Venice in 1567. The exhibition runs through to March 31.