Evolution and revolution: El Greco's Byzantine roots in his Spanish painting

El Greco's earliest known works are three icons he completed in Crete in the traditional late-Byzantine style; aesthetic characteristics of which were carried into the execution of many of his later commissioned paintings as a famed artist in Toledo. It is the intention of this thesis to illustrate specifically which elements of El Greco's icons were carried into his later works by comparing each authenticated icon to a number of his Spanish paintings that contain particularly Byzantine traits in spirituality, theme, and style.