| Title of the article: |
The metaphysical meaning of El Greco’s art |
| Author(s): |
BYCHKOV V. V. |
| Section: |
Theory and History of Art |
| Year: |
2014 |
| Issue: |
№ 2 (32) |
| Pages: |
158-170 |
| Index UDK: |
75.03 |
| Index BBK: |
85.143(3) |
| Abstract: |
Many of El Greco’s late works feature a complex artistic organization of the spatio-temporal continuum. This causes a polysemous aesthetic perception of these works followed by their comprehension. The goal of this study is to rethink this phenomenon. On the basis of an analysis of El Greco’s large altar panels from his late period, as well as of his series of representations of the apostles (apostolados), the author concludes that the main metaphysical meaning of this most important segment of his creative production is a sense of the impending Apocalypse which is artistically expressed by purely aesthetic means (such as composition, color selection, deformations of human figures and objects, etc.). In order to achieve this, the Spanish master places all the events of the sacred history that he depicts, as well as all the images of the apostles into a unique spatio-temporal artistic continuum which is neither earthly nor heavenly. What contributes to the organization of this continuum is the overloaded nature of the artistic composition. First of all, the heavenly section of his paintings is overloaded by heavily deformed, maximally mobile figures. The painter utilizes contrasting color schemes that feature combinations of tense, usually dark colors. The way he organizes the clouds produces an alarming sensation; he employs special expressive ways of recreating the light-filled atmosphere and other luminescent phenomena. |
| Keywords: |
ART, EL GRECO, APOCALYPTISM, METAPHYSICAL MEANING OF ART, SYMBOLISM, ARTISTIC IMAGE, COLOR, PAINTING, FORM |
| Bibliography: |
1 Bychkov V. V. Khudozhestvennyi Apokalipsis Kul’tury [The Artistic Apocalypse of Culture]: v 2 t. Moscow, Kul’turnaia revoliutsiia Publ., 2008. 816 + 832 p., il. 2 Bychkov V. V. Simvolizatsiia v iskusstve kak esteticheskii printsip [Symbolization in Art as an Aesthetic Principle]. Voprosy filosofii [Issues in Philosophy]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 2012, no. 3, pp. 81–90. 3 Bychkov V. V. Khudozhestvennaia simvolizatsiia kak glavnyi printsip estetiki russkogo simvolizma [Artistic Symbolization as the Main Principle of the Aesthetics of Russian Symbolism]. Dukh simvolizma: Russkoe i zapadnoevropeiskoe iskusstvo v kontekste epokhi kontsa XIX – nachala XX veka [The Spirit of Symbolism: Russian and Western European Art in the Context of the Period Spanning the end of the 19th/beginning of the 20th Century]. Moscow, Progress-Traditsiia Publ., 2012, pp. 144–177. 4 Bychkov V. V. Mif v prostranstve khudozhestvennoi simvolizatsii (prolegomeny k sovremennoi filosofii iskusstva) [Myth in Artistic Symbolization (The Prolegomena to the Contemporary Philosophy of Art)]. Voprosy filosofii [Issues in Philosophy]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 2013, no. 9, pp. 125–135. 5 Bychkova L. S. Tvorchestvo i chudotvorstvo: Zhivaia klassika iskusstva [Creativity and Miracle Working: the Living Classics of Art]. Moscow, St. Petersbur, Modern-A Publ., Tsentr gumanitarnykh initsiativ Publ., 2010. 320 p., il. 6 Kaptereva T. P. Iskusstvo Ispanii. Ocherki. Srednie veka. Epokha Vozrozhdeniia [The Art of Spain. Sketches. The Middle Ages. The Renaissance]. Moscow, Izobrazitel’noe iskusstvo Publ., 1989. 388 p., il. |
| PDF file: |
 Download |
| Illustrations: |
Download |
