03 — ARTWORK
St Veronica Holding the Veil
- MEDIUM
- Oil on canvas, 84 x 91 cm
- TYPE
- Religious
PALETTE
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THIS REPRODUCTION
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CURRENT LOCATION · Museo de Santa Cruz
- FILE
- 950 × 1006 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
St Veronica Holding the Veil c. 1580 Oil on canvasA woven cloth used as a support for painting. The best-quality canvas is made of linen; other materials used are cotton, hemp, and jute. It is now so familiar a material that the word 'canvas' has become almost a synonym for an oil painting, but it was not until around 1500 that it began to rival the wooden panel (which was more expensive and took longer to prepare) as the standard support for movable paintings (the transition came later in Northern Europe than in Italy). Canvas is not suitable for painting on until it has been coated with a ground, which isolates the fabric from the paint; otherwise it will absorb too much paint, only very rough effects will be obtainable, and parts of the fabric may be rotted by the pigments. It must also be made taut on a stretcher or by some other means., 84 x 91 cm Museo de Santa Cruz, Toledo
El Greco treated the theme of the veil of Veronica several times. This version is one of El Greco's important paintings of the period. The artist used the same model as for one of the Marys in the <A onclick="return OpenOther('/html/g/greco_el/04/0402grec.html')" HREF="/html/g/greco_el/04/0402grec.html">Disrobing</A> (El Espolio), but the degree of naturalismGeneric term for scientific positions supported by natural insights. In fine arts and literature between approximately 1870 and 1900, Naturalism tried to reproduce the reality comprehended through sensory experience as realistically as possible, i.e. without idealising the object, but with scientific precision. In contrast to Realism, which was also based on the accurate description of natural occurrences, Naturalism concerns itself with the sensual dimensions of observation, whereby questions of morality and social criticism come to the fore. The spokesman for literary Naturalism was Emile Zola, who believed the artistic methods provided evidence of human existence. varies considerably in these two contemporary renderings.
OTHER WORKS BY EL GRECO
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-rf968fe96d0bbf0,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {St Veronica Holding the Veil by GRECO, El},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-13},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/greco-el-r8ef3afacca162f/st-veronica-holding-the-veil-rf968fe96d0bbf0},
urldate = {2026-09-13},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-13. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.