El Greco painted The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. Completed around 1586–1588 for Santo Tomé Church in Toledo, the monumental oil painting depicts a popular miracle legend: Saints Augustine and Stephen descend from heaven to bury the pious Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo, lord of Orgaz.
Born Doménikos Theotokópoulos in Crete, El Greco trained in the Byzantine tradition before working in Venice and Rome. He settled in Toledo in the 1570s, where his elongated figures, intense colors, and spiritual compositions became associated with late Mannerism. Although often described as a Spanish painter, he was Greek by origin and spent much of his career in Spain.
The painting is divided between an earthly funeral below and a heavenly vision above. El Greco included recognizable citizens of sixteenth-century Toledo among the mourners, as well as a likeness of his young son. A common mix-up is confusing the work with a painting by Goya or Velázquez; neither artist painted this famous Toledo altarpiece.