The Immaculate Conception (El Greco, Toledo) in his artistic career; between the years of 1581 and 1585. As such, the demand for devotional works by El Greco’s patrons escalated rapidly. His customers were able to choose from a few samples, often smaller versions of his works, which he would then alter to suit their preferences. El Greco later became the master of a workshop which dealt with the creation of architectural or framing devices for cathedrals. These years of 1597 - 1607 were a profitable decade for him and his workshop, yielding several commissions and outputs. Despite staying in Toledo, this granted El Greco significant projects
Dormition of the Virgin (El Greco) a significant advance in the understanding of El Greco's formation and early career. The painting combines post-Byzantine and Italian mannerist stylistic and iconographic elements. El Greco is now seen as an artist with a formative training on Crete; a series of works illuminate the style of early El Greco, some painted while he was still in Crete, some from his period in Venice, and some from his subsequent stay in Rome. The icon, which retains its function as an object of veneration in the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin in Syros, was probably brought to the island during