Saint Martin and the Beggar
Artist
Jorge Manuel Theotokopoulos
(Spanish, c. 1578-1631, active in Toledo)
Date1620s
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsFrame: 64 5/8 × 52 13/16 × 3 1/8 in. (164.1 × 134.1 × 8 cm)
Image: 54 1/2 x 42 1/2 in. (138.4 x 108 cm)
Image: 54 1/2 x 42 1/2 in. (138.4 x 108 cm)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Thomas N. Metcalf and Richard C. Paine, 1951
Object numberSN656
This painting from The Ringling's collection depicts the best-known episode in the life of St. Martin of Tours (lived 4th century CE), who was a member of the imperial Roman calvary stationed in Gaul (modern-day France). One day while approaching the gates of the city of Amiens, Martin saw a beggar with little clothing, and immediately cut his military cloak in half to share with the man. One version of the story holds that Christ later appeared to Martin in a dream, saying "what thou hast done for that poor man, thou hast done for me."
Jorge Manuel Theotokopoulos was the only son of the famous painter known as El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos, 1541-1614), and trained in his father's studio. This painting is a later version of one El Greco painted for the chapel of St. Joseph in Toledo (now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington).
Martin is dressed as a contemporary knight, in striking gold-damascened armor. The decorative technique known as damascening (the word refers to Damascus, Syria, where it was practiced), involves cutting a pattern into one metal--in this case, steel armor--and inlaying the cut areas with another metal (often gold or silver) to produce a contrasting tonal effect. The city of Toledo, Spain, where El Greco and his son both practiced, was a major center of damascene production.
On View
Not on viewCollections
Lucas Cranach the Younger
17th century
18th century
ca. 1600s
