Xavier Bray: Demystifying El Greco: His Use of Wax, Clay, and Plaster Models

An inventory of El Greco’s studio made in 1614 at the time of his death lists some fifty models of plaster, clay, and wax. This lecture will consider how these models may have been used and the role they may have played in the creation of his quintessentially other-worldly style.

Xavier Bray has been Chief Curator at the Dulwich Picture Gallery since 2011. Previously, he was Assistant Curator of 17th- and 18th-century European paintings at the National Gallery in London, Chief Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts in Bilbao, and Assistant Curator at the National Gallery in London. Among the many exhibitions he has curated or co-curated are Murillo (2013), The Sacred Made Real: Spanish Painting and Sculpture 1600–1700 (2009), Velázquez (2006), Caravaggio (2005), and El Greco (2004). He completed his doctoral dissertation, “Royal Religious Commissions as Political Propaganda in Spain under Charles III,” at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1999. He is currently working on an exhibition of Goya’s portraits, scheduled to open at the National Gallery in autumn 2015.

This lecture was recorded Wednesday, January 28, 2015 at The Frick Collection, New York

[previously hosted on Vimeo: 343 views]