The metaphysical meaning of El Greco’s art
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.