Portrait of Diego de Covarrubias y Leiva (El Greco) Portrait of Diego de Covarrubias y Leiva (El Greco) Portrait of Diego de Covarrubias y Leiva (Spanish: Retrato de Diego de Covarrubias y Leiva ) is a painting by El Greco, from 1600. It is an oil on panel 68 cm x 57 centimeters. It is on display at the El Greco Museum, Toledo in Spain. After his apprenticeship in Venice and Rome, El Greco, turned to the production of portraits, among which is this half-length bust on an undefined background. El Greco did not have to meet in person the theologian Diego de Covarrubias, he died the same year
El Greco may mean he worked in Titian's large studio, or not. Clovio characterized El Greco as "a rare talent in painting". In 1570, El Greco moved to Rome, where he executed a series of works strongly marked by his Venetian apprenticeship. It is unknown how long he remained in Rome, though he may have returned to Venice (c. 1575–76) before he left for Spain. In Rome, on the recommendation of Giulio Clovio, El Greco was received as a guest at the Palazzo Farnese, which Cardinal Alessandro Farnese had made a center of the artistic and intellectual life of the city. There