The Miracle of Christ healing the blind – painting by ‘ El Greco’
Doménikos Theotokópoulos, nicknamed ‘El Greco’ (the Greek) was born in 1541 in Crete, a Greek island that had passed from Byzantine to Venetian rule in 1212. Initially trained as an icon painter, he soon transformed himself from the flat symbolic world to master the dynamic humanistic elements of the Renaissance. However the vision of embodying a higher realm of spirit remained common.
Among the finest of his works is the ‘Miracle of Christ healing the blind’. El Greco painted this dramatic storytelling either in Venice or in Rome, where he worked before moving to Spain in 1576. He spent the rest of his life in Toledo and died there on April 7, 1614.
Fr. Warner D'Souza is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Bombay. He has served in the parishes of St Michael's (Mahim), St Paul's (Dadar East), Our Lady of Mount Carmel, (Bandra), a ten year stint as priest-in-charge at St Jude Church (Malad East) and at present is the Parish Priest at St Stephen's Church (Cumballa Hill). He is also the Director of the Archdiocesan Heritage Museum and is the co-ordinator of the Committee for the Promotion and Preservation of the Artistic and Historic Patrimony of the Church.
