Listed 3 sub titles with search on: Biographies for wider area of: "GAZI Municipality HERAKLIO" .
FODELE (Village) GAZI
Domenico Theotocopuli (El Greco). One of the most remarkable Spanish artists, b. in Crete, between 1545
and 1550; d. at Toledo, 7 April, 1614. On 15 Nov., 1570, the miniature-painter
Giulio Clovio wrote to Cardinal N. Farnese, recommending El Greco to his patron,
describing him as a Cretan, who was then in Rome and had been a pupil of Titian.
El Greco, however, derived very little influence from his master, for his works,
beyond a certain influence of Bassano, Baroccio, Veronese, or Tintoretto, are
individual and distinct. El Greco came to Spain in 1577. He signed his name in
Greek characters, using the Latin form of his Christian name, and repeatedly declaring
himself as a native of Crete. He appeared before the tribunal of the Inquisition
at Toledo in 1582, as interpreter for one of his compatriots who was accused of
being a Moor; he then definitely announced that he had settled in Toledo. Nothing
is known of his parentage or early history, nor why he went to Spain; but in time
he became typically Spanish, and his paintings exhibit all the characteristics
of the people amongst whom he resided. From very early days he struck out a definite
line for himself, glorying in cold tones with blue, in the use of grey and many
varied tones of white, and in impressionistic work which foreshadowed ideas in
art that were introduced one hundred and fifty years later. His first authenticated
portrait is that of his patron and fellow-countryman, Clovio, now at Naples; his
last, that of a cardinal, in the National Gallery. His first important commission
in Spain was to paint the reredos of the Church of Santo Domingo of Diego at Toledo.
He may have been drawn to Spain in connexion with the work in the Escorial, but
he made Toledo his home. The house where he lived is now a museum of his works,
saved to Spain by one of her nobles.
His earliest important work is "El Espolio", which adorns the high
altar in Toledo, but by far his greatest painting is the famous "Burial of the
Count of Orgaz" in the Church of Santo Tome. The line of portraits in the rear
of the burial scene represents with infinite skill almost every phase of the Spanish
character, while one or two of the faces in the immediate background have seldom,
if ever, been equalled in beauty. It is one of the masterpieces of the world.
The influence of El Greco in the world of art was for a long time lost sight of,
but it was very real, and very far-reaching. Velasquez owed much to him, and,
in modern days, Sargent attributes his skill as an arist to a profound study of
El Greco's works. El Greco's separate portraits are marvels of discernment; few
men have exhibited the complexities of mental emotion with equal success. The
largest collection of his works outside of Spain belongs to the King of Rumania,
some of the paintings being at Sinaia, others in Bukarest. In the National Gallery
of London, in the collections of Sir John Sterling-Maxwell, the Countess of Yarborough,
and Sir Frederick Cook, in the galleries of Dresden, Parma, and Naples, and in
the possession of several eminent French collectors are fine examples of his work.
But to study El Greco's work to perfection one must visit Toledo, Illescas, Madrid,
the Escorial, and many of the private collections of Spain, and his extraordinary
work will be found worthy of the closest study. He was a man of eccentric habits
and ideas, of tremendous determination, extraordinary reticence, and extreme devoutness.
He was a constant attendant at the sacraments, made complete arrangements for
his funeral before he died, and was buried in the Church of Santo Tome.
GEORGE CHARLES WILLIAMSON.
Transcribed by WGKofron
With thanks to Fr. John Hilkert, Akron, Ohio
This text is cited Nov 2003 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
Diogenes Apolloniates, (Diogenes ho Apolloniates), an eminent natural philosopher, who lived in the fifth century B. C. He was a native of Apollonia in Crete, his father's name was Apollothemis, and he was a pupil of Anaximenes. Nothing is known of the events of his life, except that he was once at Athens, and there got into trouble from some unknown cause, which is conjectured to have been the supposition that his philosophical opinions were dangerous to the religion of the state. (Diog. Laert. ix.57.) He wrote a work in the Ionic dialect, entitled Peri Phuseos, " On Nature," which consisted of at least two hooks, and in which he appears to have treated of physical science in the largest sense of the words. Of this work only a few short fragments remain, preserved by Aristotle, Diogenes Laertius, and Simplicius. The longest of these is that which is inserted by Aristotle in the third book of his History of Animals, and which contains an interesting description of the origin and distribution of the veins. The following is the account of his philosophical opinions given by Diogenes Lartius :--" He maintained that air was the primal element of all things; that there was an infinite number of worlds, and an infinite void; that air, densified and rarified, produced the different members of the universe; that nothing was produced from nothing, or was reduced to nothing; that the earth was round, supported in the middle, and had received its shape from the whirling round of the warm vapours, and its concretion and hardening from cold." The last paragraph, which is extremely obscure in the original, has been translated according to Panzerbeiter's explanation, not as being entirely satisfactory, but as being the best that has hitherto been proposed. Diogenes also imputed to air an intellectual energy, though without recognizing any distinction between mind and matter. The fragments of Diogenes have been collected and published, with those of Anaxagoras, by Schorn, Bonn, 1829, 8vo; and alone by Panzerbeiter, Lips. 1830, 8vo, with a copious dissertation on his philosophy.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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