The Burial of the Count of Orgaz: meaning and description
In the Church of Santo Tomé in Toledo, the church it was painted for, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz still hangs. El Greco (Doménikos Theotokópoulos, 1541–1614) painted it in oils in Toledo in 1586–1588, and it is classed as Mannerism. It shows the legendary burial of Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo, lord of Orgaz, laid in his tomb by St Stephen and St Augustine while heaven opens above. In Spanish it is El entierro del conde de Orgaz; the church calls it El entierro del Señor de Orgaz.
- What it shows: St Stephen and St Augustine, in gold vestments, lay the armoured body of Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo in his tomb among priests and Toledo noblemen, while an angel carries his soul up to Christ.
- Why it was painted: the parish priest, Andrés Núñez de Madrid, won a lawsuit (1564–1569) that made the town of Orgaz resume the yearly gifts its lord had left to the church. The miracle was officially recognised in 1583, and the priest then ordered a canvas for the lord’s chapel.
- The contract: signed on 18 March 1586, it asked for the burial, the two saints coming down, a crowd of onlookers and an open heaven in glory above, all finished by Christmas 1586.
- Two worlds: the earthly scene is painted in blacks and greys, lit only by six torches, while heaven is full of light and colour radiating from Christ. The church reads it as death below and eternal life above.
- Medium and size: oil on canvas, 480 × 360 cm, painted between mid-March 1586 and the end of January 1588.
- The price dispute: two painters valued it at 1,200 ducats. The priest found that excessive; a second valuation came out at 1,600, and in the end the 1,200 ducats of the first were paid.
Sources: Church of Santo Tomé: El Greco and the painting · Church of Santo Tomé: the church and Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo · Toledo City Council, Cuadernos de Archivo Secreto no. 1 (2019): the 1586 contract and the 1588 lawsuit · Toledo Monumental: Church of Santo Tomé (visits) · Wikidata Q94802
Questions and answers about the painting
What does The Burial of the Count of Orgaz show and mean?
El Greco’s painting shows a miracle told in Toledo about its benefactor Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo, lord of Orgaz: St Stephen and St Augustine came down from heaven to bury him with their own hands. Below, the burial takes place in blacks and greys; above, heaven opens in light and colour around Christ, who receives the soul an angel carries up. According to the Church of Santo Tomé, death appears not as an end but as a birth into eternal life, and Christ as a judge, with the Virgin Mary and St John the Baptist pleading for the soul.
Source: Church of Santo Tomé: El Greco and the painting · Church of Santo Tomé: the church and Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo · Wikidata Q94802 (depicts)
Where is El Greco’s painting in Toledo?
The Burial of the Count of Orgaz is in the Church of Santo Tomé, Plaza del Conde 4, Toledo, the parish church it was painted for. It was made for the chapel where Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo is buried, which was remodelled in 1586 to receive it. After a restoration in 1975 it was moved to the spot where it is seen today, in an area with its own visitor entrance, and visits are ticketed. The Museo del Prado in Madrid has only a copy of the lower half (P000830).
Source: Church of Santo Tomé: the church and Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo · Church of Santo Tomé: El Greco and the painting · Toledo Monumental: Church of Santo Tomé (visits) · Wikidata Q27699879 (Prado copy)
How big is the canvas?
The Burial of the Count of Orgaz measures 480 × 360 cm (about 15 ft 9 in × 11 ft 10 in) and is painted in oil on canvas. The contract of 18 March 1586 asked El Greco to fill the chapel wall on canvas from the arch down to the epitaph, and to paint a tomb in fresco below it. El Greco, a parishioner of Santo Tomé, worked on it from mid-March 1586 to the end of January 1588.
Source: Wikidata Q94802 · Toledo Monumental: Church of Santo Tomé (visits) · Toledo City Council, Cuadernos de Archivo Secreto no. 1 (2019): the 1586 contract and the 1588 lawsuit
Who are the people in the painting?
Below, St Stephen, the young deacon, and St Augustine, in a bishop’s mitre, lower Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo, in armour, into his tomb. Around them stand priests and noblemen who, according to the church, are portraits of El Greco’s contemporaries. The priest in a white surplice at the far right is Andrés Núñez de Madrid, who commissioned the work. The boy at the left, pointing at the body, is El Greco’s son Jorge Manuel; the painter’s signature is on the handkerchief in his pocket, with the date 1578, the boy’s birth year. Above, Christ sits between the Virgin Mary and St John the Baptist.
Source: Church of Santo Tomé: El Greco and the painting · Web Gallery of Art: The Burial of the Count of Orgaz · Wikidata Q94802 (depicts) · Wikidata Q3109427 (Jorge Manuel, born 1578)
Who was the lord of Orgaz, and why is he called a count?
Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo was lord (señor) of the town of Orgaz and chief notary of Castile, a benefactor who helped pay for rebuilding Santo Tomé and built the church of San Esteban for the Augustinian friars. He was never a count: his family received that title later, which is why the church calls him the Señor de Orgaz. The church and Wikidata give 1323 as the year of his death (some older accounts say 1312). According to the church, the miracle happened in 1327, when his body was moved to Santo Tomé.
Source: Church of Santo Tomé: the church and Don Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo · Web Gallery of Art: The Burial of the Count of Orgaz · Wikidata Q3817176 (Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo)
Is El Greco’s painting in the public domain?
Yes. El Greco died in 1614, so his paintings are free of copyright everywhere. A faithful photograph of a public-domain painting adds no new copyright in the United States or the European Union, so you can download this image and use it in personal or commercial projects. Public Domain Images for Commercial Use explains how.
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