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El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) El Greco (painter) Greek, 1541 - 1614 Laocoön, c. 1610/1614 oil on canvas Overall: 137.5 x 172.5 cm (54 1/8 x 67 15/16 in.) framed: 176.5 x 212.7 cm (69 1/2 x 83 3/4 in.) Samuel H. Kress Collection 1946.18.1 |
Object 4 of 8
Conservation Notes
The support is a fine-weight, plain-weave fabric, lined to a similar fabric. Over the white ground El Greco applied a thin red imprimatura, which he left exposed in many parts of the composition. The paint was applied in rich, opaque layers with thin, scumbled brushwork in the areas of lighter color. Although there is no high impasto, the brushwork is lively and textured. X-radiographs reveal only a few minor revisions of the composition. The painting was cleaned and restored by Mario Modestini in 1955. Extensive areas of loss in the throat, chest, and legs of the figure at the far left and in the raised leg of Laocoön were inpainted, as were smaller scattered damages. Modestini removed loincloths which had been painted over the figures at the far left and far right and a large bouffant coiffure which had been added to the female figure at the right. He also exposed the middle head of the group of three now visible at the right and the fifth leg between the two standing figures at the right. The painting is in fair condition.| « | back to gallery | » | continue tour |