The first of three paintings to arrive to the Meadows Museum from the infamous Museo del Prado, as a part of the new three year partnership program, will be available for viewing Sept. 12, 2010 to Feb. 6, 2011.

For the next three years, SMU will receive one painting by each of the three Spanish masters starting with El Greco’s “Pentecost”, followed by Jusepe de Ribera’s “Mary Magdalene” and finally Diego Velázquez’s famous portrait simply titled “Philip IV.” 

The famous Spanish painter, El Greco, born Domenikos Theotokopoulos on the island of Crete in Greece, is characterized by his elongated and distorted figures, vivid use of color and phantasmal religious content. 

The mannerist painter was enamored with the idea of beauty and grace, and believed that the only way to achieve this supreme ideal was by using the imagination instead of clear-cut realism.  Like the majority of his other works, “Pentecost” fits the religious genre. It depicts the moment found in Acts 2:1-4 in the New Testament, when suddenly the Holy Spirit comes down from the sky revealing itself to the Apostles as “tongues like flames of fire” and filling them “with the Holy Spirit.” 

Contrary to El Greco’s usual struggle with the Counter Reformation, which required that all religious paintings display more emphasis on the content rather than style, “Pentecost” was received favorably among the church for its emphasis on the importance of a unique priestly class of individuals receiving God’s mission to spread Christianity throughout the world. 

Beyond the content, “Pentecost” is a wonderful example of El Greco’s use of color and light in order to create a dematerializing effect. 

In this tall and narrow composition, we witness the elongated bodies and faces of the apostles surrounding two of the three Marys, as they all gaze upward towards the light of the Holy Spirit emanating down upon them.  The figures seem to appear as if they are being elevated upwards, creating a sense of lightness.  We are truly fortunate to have the opportunity to view this incredible example of the work from the master El Greco.

In addition to this unique opportunity made available through the Meadows-Prado partnership, SMU is privileged to have one of the most prized collections of Spanish art outside of El Museo del Prado.  As students of SMU, we are only doing ourselves a disservice if we do not take advantage of Meadows Museum and all it has to offer.