Saint Louis (El Greco) both France and Spain, particularly since no Spanish king was canonised until Ferdinand III of Castile received the honour in 1671. The work was commissioned by Luis de Castilla, the painter's friend and future executor - the saint was also Luis' name saint. For a period the work was in the collection of the château de Chenonceau, before being acquired by its present owner in 1903. A recent restoration has revealed a cityscape in the background, showing Toledo. Saint Louis (El Greco) Saint Louis is a 1592-1595 painting by El Greco, painted during his time in Toledo. It is now
El Greco by his contemporaries but found appreciation in the 20th century. El Greco is regarded as a precursor of both Expressionism and Cubism, while his personality and works were a source of inspiration for poets and writers such as Rainer Maria Rilke and Nikos Kazantzakis. El Greco has been characterized by modern scholars as an artist so individual that he belongs to no conventional school. He is best known for tortuously elongated figures and often fantastic or phantasmagorical pigmentation, marrying Byzantine traditions with those of Western painting. Born in 1541, in either the village of Fodele or Candia (the Venetian name