Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei (Budapest, 2008)

ANNUAL REPORT • A 2008. ÉV - ADRIANA LANTOS: In the Wake of Jesus. El Greco's Saint John

15 INTERIOR VIEW OF THE EXHIBITION in its composition; the fluttering draperies and the broad, passionate movements in Tintoretto's painting also reveal the inspiration for some characteristic features of El Greco's style. Among the Venetians, he was also influenced by the coloring of the late Veronese (represented in the exhibition by his Christ on the Cross), characterized by the highlighting of foreground motifs by contrasting them with bright shining colors before dramatically dark backgrounds of skies. A North Italian drawn copy and a relief served as a reference to the impact that Michelangelo, the great Roman master of draughtsmanship, had on El Greco. Beyond these well-explored influences, the curator also presented a novel idea, suggesting that El Greco's lifescale, full-length representations of saints, alone or in pairs, in landscape settings, might have been inspired by Bonifacio de' Pitati's saints for the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi, including the Saint Louis of Toulouse and Saint Andrew exhibited here. El Greco's Saint John the Evangelist, lent by the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, was displayed along with the Saint James the Lesser and Saint Andrew, both from the Museum of Fine Arts' own collection. These paintings evoked the Greek master's apostle series, which occupy a special place in his œuvre, the predecessors of wdrich were the apostle representations of Raimondi's thirteen-piece engraving series, also exhibited. The exhibition attracted 32,500 visitors. Adrian a Lantos