El Greco case, Philip's dissatisfaction ended any hopes of royal patronage El Greco may have had. Lacking the favor of the king, El Greco was obliged to remain in Toledo, where he had been received in 1577 as a great painter. According to Hortensio Félix Paravicino, a 17th-century Spanish preacher and poet, "Crete gave him life and the painter's craft, Toledo a better homeland, where through Death he began to achieve eternal life." In 1585, he appears to have hired an assistant, Italian painter Francisco Preboste, and to have established a workshop capable of producing altar frames and statues as well as
Museum of El Greco Museum of El Greco The Museum of El Greco (aka El Greco Museum or Domenikos Theotokopoulos Museum) is located on the edge of the village of Fodele in Crete, west of the city of Heraklion. It celebrates the mannerist painter El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos, 1541–1614), who grew up in the village. The museum is located around 1km from the centre of Fodele opposite a chapel and contains copies of works by and documents associated with El Greco. The original building was in a ruinous state but was restored from 1982 onwards through a grant by the Greek Ministry of Culture.