National Heritage begins to restore the work ‘The Martyrdom of Saint Maurice and the Theban Legion’, by El Greco

National Heritage restoration of the work has begun ‘The Martyrdom of Saint Maurice and the Theban Legion’, by El Greco, this week. The painting has been moved from the Chapter Houses of the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial to the Gallery of the Royal Collections.

This art gallery will be where the intervention will take place over the next few months. Afterwards, the painting will be exhibited there temporarily before returning to the Royal Monastery..

The person responsible for the intervention will be the El Greco expert Rafael Alonso, who has restored more than 90 works by the Cretan painter.

Thus, repaintings will be corrected and the rust of varnishes that currently obscure the colors and creative depth characteristic of the artist will be removed..

The transfer from El Escorial has required a operational “complex” in which more than ten professionals have participated, due to the large dimensions of the painting, which measures almost four and a half meters high and three meters wide, Heritage has explained.

The restoration work is possible thanks to the patronage of the International Council of Patrons of the Royal Collections, created by the Callia Foundation in collaboration with National Heritage and made up of patrons from various Latin American countries and other places in the world.

‘The Martyrdom of Saint Maurice and the Theban Legion’ It was commissioned in 1580 by Philip II to El Greco to decorate one of the side chapels of the Basilica of the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, specifically the one consecrated to the saint, patron of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The painter took almost three years to complete the work in his workshop in Toledo and delivered it personally at the end of 1582.

With this work, Domenico Theotocopoulos sought to obtain the favor of Philip II and access new orders linked to the decoration of El Escorial. Upon his return from Portugal in 1583, the king was able to see the work, but he did not like it, although its extraordinary artistic quality was reflected in the appraisal: 800 ducats, a very high figure for the time.