Artwork
St John the Evangelist
St John the Evangelist is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist El Greco. It dates from 1605 and is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado.
About this work
This painting shows Saint John the Evangelist by El Greco. It was made around 1605 in Toledo, Spain. The work uses oil paint and hangs today in Madrid’s Museo del Prado.
The Prado got this painting in 1921 from a collector named César Cabañas Caballero. El Greco painted it late in his life, after moving to Toledo.
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Overview
Created around 1605, this oil painting by El Greco portrays Saint John the Evangelist. Executed during the artist’s final years in Toledo, the work now forms part of the collection at Madrid’s Museo del Prado, where it has been displayed since its donation in the early twentieth century.
Subject & Meaning
John is presented as a youthful figure clutching a chalice that contains a diminutive dragon. The creature alludes to the legend of the apostle’s survival after drinking a poisoned cup while imprisoned, a motif that underscores his martyrdom and divine protection.
Technique & Style
The composition reflects El Greco’s mature manner, characterized by elongated forms, dramatic lighting, and a palette of deep, saturated hues. The brushwork conveys a sense of spiritual intensity, while the rendering of the chalice and dragon demonstrates the artist’s skill in integrating symbolic detail within a dynamic visual field.
History & Provenance
The painting entered the Prado’s holdings in 1921, bequeathed by the Spanish collector César Cabañas Caballero. Its provenance prior to this donation is not extensively documented, but the work’s acquisition marked a significant addition to the museum’s representation of El Greco’s late period.
Context
This depiction of John the Evangelist closely mirrors a larger version that El Greco executed for Toledo Cathedral. Both share compositional elements and iconography, illustrating the artist’s sustained interest in the saint’s narrative during his prolific output in the city of Toledo.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Doménikos Theotokópoulos was born in 1541 in Candia (modern Heraklion), the capital of Venetian-ruled Crete, where he was trained in the post-Byzantine tradition of icon painting.
