03 — ARTWORK
St John the Evangelist
- MEDIUM
- Pen and brown ink with brown wash, heightened with white on paper, 136 x 50 mm
- TYPE
- Study
PALETTE
HOVER OR TAP A SWATCH FOR NAME, SHARE AND HEX. SAMPLED FROM THE IMAGE — INDICATIVE, NOT A PIGMENT ANALYSIS.
THIS REPRODUCTION DOWNLOAD THE FULL FILE ↓
- FILE
- 400 × 1010 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
The two drawings, representing <A onclick="return OpenOther('/html/g/greco_el/23/2301grec.html')" HREF="/html/g/greco_el/23/2301grec.html">St John the Baptist</A> and St John the Evangelist, probably once formed a much larger composition depicting the <A onclick="return OpenOther('/html/g/greco_el/05/0502grec.html')" HREF="/html/g/greco_el/05/0502grec.html">altarpieceA picture or sculpture that stands on or is set up behind an altar. The term reredos is used for an ornamental screen or partition, not directly attached to the altar table but affixed to the wall behind it. A diptych is an altarpiece consisting of two panels, a triptych one of three panels, and a polyptych one of four or more panels. From the 14th to 16th century, the altarpiece was one of the most important commissions in European art; it was through the altarpiece that some of the most decisive developments in painting and sculpture came about.</A> commissioned by Diego de Castilla from El Greco for Santo Domingo el Antiguo in Toledo. In its original state the complete drawing would have served as a 'contract piece' which El Greco would have presented and discussed with his patron.
Unlike St John the Baptist, the figure of St John the Evangelist was considerably altered between the drawing and the painting.
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-rd8ee741683d68c,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {St John the Evangelist by GRECO, El},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-13},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/greco-el-r8ef3afacca162f/st-john-the-evangelist-rd8ee741683d68c},
urldate = {2026-09-13},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-13. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.
