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16
Overcoming obstacles to make Cyprus’ first El
Greco Exhibition a reality
Maria Vassilaki - Professor in Byzantine Art, Uni-
versity of Thessaly
When Loukia Loizou Hadjigavriel (Director and
Head Curator of The Leventis Municipal Mu-
seum) and I first discussed the possibility of or-
ganising an exhibition at the Leventis Municipal
Museum of Nicosia during the Cyprus Presidency
of the European Union in the second half of 2012,
we had in mind an exhibition with a European ori-
entation. It was not long before we agreed that an
exhibition of El Greco’s work would not only be
fascinating in its own right, but it would also suit
the occasion perfectly. El Greco was a “European
before Europe.” Born in Venetian Crete, he left for
Venice, then for Rome, finally settling in Toledo –
via Madrid – for the rest of his life.
Two major international El Greco exhibitions had
already been scheduled for 2012, however – one in
Dusseldorf (
El Greco and Modernism
at the Mu-
seum Kunstpalast, 28 April - 12 August 2012),the
other in Osaka, Japan (
El Greco’s Visual Poetics
at the National Art Museum, 16 October - 24 De-
cember 2012). Thus, from the very start there were
obstacles we needed to overcome.
Angelos Delivorrias was so enthusiastic when he
heard our idea that he became the driving force
behind our plans. We decided we were going to
organise a “chamber exhibition” with paintings
by El Greco housed in Greece which could illus-
trate his “European” journey. The core of the ex-
hibition would be the
Adoration of the Magi
from
the Benaki Museum, the
Dormition of the Virgin
from the homonymous church of Syros, the
Bap-
tism of Christ
of the Municipality of Heraklion,
Crete (currently exhibited on loan at the Historical
The Mayor of Nicosia, Constantinos Yiorkadjis (right) attends the opening night
Loukia Loizou - Hadjigavriel, Curator of the Leventis
Municipal Museum of Nicosia