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
Art of El Greco issues about El Greco's Byzantine origins needing further illumination. According to Lambraki-Plaka "far from the influence of Italy, in a neutral place which was intellectually similar to his birthplace, Candia, the Byzantine elements of his education emerged and played a catalytic role in the new conception of the image which is presented to us in his mature work". According to Lambraki-Plaka, El Greco employed a deliberately non-naturalistic style and his completely spiritualized figures are a reference to the ascetics of Byzantine hagiography. El Greco in his lifetime was highly esteemed as an architect and sculptor. He usually designed complete altar