Opening of the fifth seal

The opening of El Greco's fifth seal was painted during the last years of the artist's life. This famous masterpiece is also known as The Vision of Saint John or the Fifth Seal of the Apocalypse.

It was intended to be displayed on the side altar of the church of San Juan Bautista, which was located outside Toledo. Before 1908, this exquisite painting by El Greco was called Profane Love. However, there were doubts about the actual title of the painting, so Cossio suggested the title Opening of the Fifth Seal. Currently, the works of art are presented at the Metropolitan Museum and critics express their thoughts on the painting that appears worn and quite damaged.

The theme of the painting is based on the Book of Revelation. It represents the souls of all the martyrs who are persecuted, and ask for God's justice on the salvation of their persecutor on earth. The opening of the fifth seal also features the ecstatic image of Saint John, as it dominates the entire canvas. Behind this figure are naked souls that are filled with an intense gush of emotion as they are rewarded with the white robes of God's glory and salvation.

During the 19th century, the artwork was owned by Antonio del Castillo, who was Prime Minister of Spain. Unfortunately, he was dissatisfied with the poor condition of the painting, so he ordered its restoration in the 1880s. Those who restored the painting trimmed it by about 175 centimeters and left John the Evangelist strangely pointing nowhere. With this strange appearance of the painting, several critics were intrigued by the artwork, which contributed to the masterpiece's fame among modernist circles.

The painting, which was unfinished, was included in the postmortem inventory. It represents a particular passage in Revelation that describes the opening of the Fifth Seal. Although a portion of the top of the artwork was missing, it remains one of the greatest works made throughout history.

Born on the island of Crete, where he trained in icon painting, El Greco, also known as Domenikos Theotokopoulos, studied Venetian painting under Titian (1485-1576) in Italy, where he also absorbed the language of Mannerist painting from a variety of artists, including Tintoretto. (1518-94), Jacopo Bassano (1515-92) and Parmigianino (1503-40), for example, the latter's Madonna With the Long Neck (1535), as well as Michelangelo (1475-1564). An intense, intellectual and spiritual man, in 1577 he left Italy for Spain, where he completed numerous religious paintings for the Spanish Church. These works were executed in accordance with the new guidelines issued by the Council of Trent (1545-63) for the creation of Catholic Counter-Reformation art (1560-1700). Indeed, despite falling with Philip II, El Greco's non-naturalistic painting style proved an ideal vehicle for conveying the spiritual intensity of the Catholic faith in the homeland of the Spanish Inquisition.