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T
he Leventis Municipal Museum in Nicosia
hosted the exhibition “Domenicos Theoto-
kopoulos: From Candia to Toledo – a European
Route,” the first-ever exhibition of work by the
great Greek artist more commonly known as El
Greco to be held in Cyprus. The exhibition was
held in cooperation with the Benaki Museum in
Athens.
Recently, the A.G. Leventis Foundation
enriched its art collection with Domenicos The-
otokopoulos’s painting,
Saint Francis in Ecstasy
.
To celebrate this addition to its holdings and the
Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European
Union, the Leventis Municipal Museum decided
to host this exhibition of paintings by the great
Cretan artist.
“Domenicos Theotokopoulos: From
Candia to Toledo – a European Route”
is consid-
ered a milestone in the cultural life of our island.
The exhibition was curated by Maria Vasilaki, a
professor of Byzantine Art History at the Univer-
sity of Thessaly, in cooperation with Maria Con-
stantoudaki-Kitromilidou, professor of Byzantine
Archaeology at the University ofAthens, and with
Leticia Ruiz Gomez from the Prado National Mu-
seum in Madrid. The exhibition, which was open
to the public from 6 October until 30 November,
presented El Greco’s European route, with em-
phasis on the artist’s early work, which provided
visitors to the exhibition with the chance to see
up close the painter’s apprenticeship in Byzantine
Hagiography, before his artistic concerns led him
to Venice, Rome and finally Spain. The exhibi-
tion’s museological study shed light on Theotoko-
poulos’s route from Candia in Crete to Toledo in
Spain, making necessary stops at other stations of
his artistic activity. In this manner, and with works
from Greek collections, the exhibition delineated
El Greco’s “European” route fromVenetian-occu-
pied Crete to Spain.
Cypriot art lovers had a chance to admire seven
of the Greek painter’s most significant efforts,
including works from museums in London and
Athens –
The Adoration of the Magi
is part of the
Benaki Museum collection.
St Francis in Ecstasy
,
which was acquired by the A.G. Leventis Mu-
seum, was also part of the exhibition. It is now a
permanent fixture at the Leventis Gallery, which
is expected to open this spring.
The exhibition was enriched with special tours
and an education program titled
Domenicos’ brush
which enabled young “surveyors” to come into con-
tact with the artist’s work and broaden their knowl-
edge ofTheotokopoulos and hiswork via various in-
teractive games. The programme was implemented
on 4, 18 and 25 November. There was also an Art-
ists’Bazaar of work by young artists and a lecture in
remembrance of Constantinos Leventis.
Tours
The exhibition was open to the public on Thurs-
days, Wednesdays and Thursdays for universities
and Tuesdays and Fridays for primary schools,
gymnasiums and art schools. Auto guides were
available and special tours of “Domenicos Theoto-
kopoulos: From Candia to Toledo – a European
Route” were conducted by art historian Katerina
Stefanidou.
Domenicos Theotokopoulos:
From Candia to Toledo – a European Route