The Brilliance and Gloom of a passion: Zuloaga and El Greco

This essay examines the interest of the Spanish artist Ignacio Zuloaga and his uncle Daniel Zuloaga in the old master painter Domenikos Theotokopoulos, “El Greco” (1541-1614), and their related activities as critics, collectors, and dealers. The article offers a case study of the rediscovery of El Greco (artistic, historical, and commercial) at the end of the nineteenth century and during the first decades of the twentieth century. The essay combines historical analysis with primary sources, offering a unique insight into the perception of El Greco as an essentially “modern” artist.