Workshop of El Greco
Crown of Castile · Spanish Renaissance
The story
Workshop of El Greco is the label for pictures made in his house in Toledo by the assistants who worked under him, painted from his designs and often finished with little of his own brushwork. Customers wanted his saints in quantity. His kneeling or meditating Saint Francis survives in dozens of versions, and the workshop repeated popular compositions in several sizes for churches, convents and private chapels.
Two of the helpers are known by name. Francisco Preboste, an Italian assistant, was already with him in Rome and stayed with him in Toledo for many years. His son Jorge Manuel Theotocópuli trained in the studio, and many pictures from El Greco's lifetime include his hand. After his father died in Toledo in 1614 Jorge Manuel took over the workshop, and he also worked in the city as an architect.
