![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_o93AaY0GzH4/TJxn-DD5MFI/AAAAAAAACCQ/mbhztqlyrq0/s400/A+Boy+Blowing+on+an+Ember+to+Light+a+Candle,1570-1572,+by+El+Greco.jpg)
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_o93AaY0GzH4/TJxn5G2wBbI/AAAAAAAACCI/NEjdSyPOWrY/s400/Mary+Magdalen+in+Penitence,1585-90,+by+El+Greco.jpg)
Born in Crete Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος (Doménikos Theotokópoulos), went to Venice at the age of 26 years old. El Greco, a nickname in reference to his Greek origin, was recognized last century as a talent of his own without matches:
"El Greco's elongated figures, ever straining upward, his intense and unusual colors, his passionate involvement in his subject, his ardor and his energy, all combine to create a style that is wholly distinct and individual."Right: Mary Magdalen in Penitence,1585-90 Left: A Boy Blowing on an Ember to Light a Candle,1570-1572 The subject of a boy blowing on an ember appears frequently as a subsidiary element in subject pictures in mid-sixteenth-century Venetian painting.