EL GRECO:

Last night, I went to the El Greco exhibit at the Onassis Center.

My favorite was the small icon of “adoration of the Shepherds” which he painted in the last period of his life.   This painting is very moving. It is Greco’s monumental piece in the sense that it is a culmination of his life’s work.

I studied El Greco in Madrid, and I can recall that through his travels and studies in Italy, his characteristics in painting, ideas of beauty, and perception of art had transformed with the influence of the masters of the Renaissance such as Titian, Tintoretto, and Michelangelo including Aristotelian and Neo-Platonic writers.

The “Adoration of the Shepherds” is one of El Greco’s last and greatest paintings, in which a number of important characteristics of Mannerism can be seen. His last painting is most interesting because he painted it at the end of his life where we could imagine him as an old philosopher full of ideas, whose theory and all his characteristics closed his own cycle.

There are many things that shape each and every one of us as we get older and wiser. Experiences, education, our family background, and ideas, our biology. The cohesiveness and warmth of my family have been the most significant aspect in shaping the core of my character.  I have learned to cherish my culture and ethnic traditions. I appreciate speaking a second language with people whom I love. I rejoice in my culture, mainly by visiting Greece.

Traveling to Greece frequently, I discover a novel part of myself. For example, a few years ago, I visited Chios and observed the islanders who are minimalists. They utilized only what they need because what they need is all they possess. They are content with the bare essentials. I learned that many of the material things that we think are necessities are in fact luxuries. I realized that these simple people had a high quality of life and were happy despite the lack of material possessions that we think are vital to our well - being. Especially in times like these, I think we should appreciate what we have and realize what is important and meaningful while trying our best  to get ahead, and be our best possible self, full of ideas and our core characteristics.