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Portrait of Antonio de Covarrubias

El Greco, 1595

El Greco's Portrait of Antonio de Covarrubias is an oil on canvas held by the Department of Paintings of the Louvre. It shows a learned Toledo jurist who was also a personal friend of the artist. The Louvre dates it to 1597–1598, during El Greco's years in Toledo.

Where to see it

The painting belongs to the Department of Paintings of the Louvre, where it is recorded under inventory number RF 1941 32. It measures 68 x 58 cm, a modest size that rewards a close look. Display arrangements can change, so check the Louvre's official website for the painting's current display status before you visit.

What to look for in person

A face emerging from darkness

Stand back first and notice how little competes for your attention. The sitter is dressed in black and set against a plain, dark reddish-brown background, so the clothing and the ground almost merge. With no furniture, books or symbols of office, everything leads your eye to the head. Then move closer and look at how the face is modelled against that dark field. The restraint is deliberate: this is a portrait of a scholar and lawyer, and El Greco lets the man's features carry the picture.

The signature in Greek

Look above the sitter's left shoulder, which is on your right as you face the canvas. There El Greco signed the painting in cursive Greek letters. The artist was born on Crete and kept signing in Greek throughout his career in Spain, so the inscription is a small reminder of his origins even in a portrait painted for a Toledo circle. Because the background is so dark, the lettering can be easy to miss from a distance; a close, angled look usually helps.

A portrait of a friend

Antonio de Covarrubias was not a distant patron but a personal friend of El Greco, and the portrait has the directness of someone painted by a person who knew him well. El Greco painted him more than once: another portrait of Covarrubias by the artist is in the El Greco Museum in Toledo. If you have seen that version, or plan to, compare how each presents the same man. Here, the tight framing and plain setting keep the focus on character rather than status.

About the painting

Antonio de Covarrubias y Leiva was a prominent figure in the intellectual life of Toledo. He was a jurist, taught law at the University of Salamanca, sat on the Council of Castile and held a teaching post at Toledo Cathedral. He was the brother of Diego de Covarrubias, and he was also a personal friend of El Greco, who had settled in Toledo and built much of his career among its clergy and scholars. In his later years Covarrubias is said to have lost his hearing.

El Greco painted him in oil on canvas, and the Louvre dates this work to 1597–1598. The composition is spare: dark clothing, a plain reddish-brown background and a carefully observed face, with the artist's Greek signature placed above the sitter's left shoulder. The portrait is catalogued as number 135 by Harold Wethey and as 113-a by Tiziana Frati.

The painting's history is closely tied to Toledo. It was first in the Archbishop's Palace there, then in the city's Provincial Museum, and afterwards in the Casa del Greco. In 1941 the Spanish government handed it to the Louvre as part of an exchange with Spanish museums, which explains its inventory number, RF 1941 32. A second portrait of Covarrubias by El Greco remained in Toledo and is now in the El Greco Museum, so the two versions are today divided between Spain and France. For visitors, that makes the Louvre picture a rare chance to meet one of El Greco's Toledo friends far from the city where they knew each other.

Key facts

Sources

• Wikidata Q6106748
• Wikipedia (en) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Wikipedia (ja) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Wikipedia (es) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• www.louvre.fr
• contact.louvre.fr