Public data from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Learn more
About the Artwork
The seemingly weightless figures, the startling color combinations, and the moody, imprecise setting all show El Greco’s interest in conveying the intense spirituality of these figures rather than their concrete reality. Above all, the painting addresses Mary’s role as mediator between Christ and the viewer. She supports her son, but her faraway look indicates awareness of his fate. Mary feeds Jesus fruit held by Joseph that is full of symbolic meaning, with the apple representing the fall of man; cherries, the blood of Christ; peaches, salvation; and pears, the sweetness of Christ’s virtue.
Provenance
Convent of Esquivias, near Toledo -1899: Juan Gutiérrez, Torrejón de Velasco, Spain -1908: Stanislas O'Rossen (1864-1933), Paris, France -1913: Marczell von Nemes (1866-1930), Budapest, Hungary, sold, Paris -1917: Gentile di Giuseppe (1868-1940), Paris, France -1926: (D. Atri, Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1926-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936). The Venetian Tradition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 8, 1956-January 1, 1957). El Greco. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (September 29, 2003-January 11, 2004). Masterpieces of European Painting from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Frick Collection, New York, NY (organizer) (November 8, 2006-January 28, 2007). Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Beachwood, OH (March 29-July 8, 2007). El Greco and Modernism. Museum Kunst Palast, 40479 Düsseldorf, Germany (organizer) (April 28-August 13, 2012). Masterworks - Portland. Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR (organizer) (December 13, 2014-April 5, 2015). El Greco: Ambition and Defiance. Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand Palais, Paris cedex 12, France (organizer) (October 14, 2019-February 10, 2020); The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (March 5-October 19, 2020) https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/2939/el-greco-ambition-and-defiance.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- El Greco (Spanish, 1541–1614)
- Date
- c. 1590–95
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 160 x 131 x 7.5 cm (63 x 51 9/16 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 130 x 100 cm (51 3/16 x 39 3/8 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of the Friends of The Cleveland Museum of Art in memory of J. H. Wade
- Accession no.
- 1926.247
More by El Greco in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009157
Powered by Art Trackers