Actually, he was named Domenikos Theotokopulos - a Spanish painter, sculptor and architect of Greek origin. His most outstanding works include: The Martyrdom of Saint Maurice (1577), The Stripping of His Clothes (1579), The Burial of Count Orgaz (1588) and The View of Toledo (ca. 1610).
“Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy”- photo: Wikipedia
In Poland, the only painting by the master is “Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy”.
Historical outline of the discovery of the painting by ladies Izabella Galicka and Hanna Sygietyńska.
It was year 1964. Izabella Galicka and Hanna Sygietyńska, art historians from the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences, were inventorying monuments at the rectory in Kosów Lacki. Izabella Galicka recalls that one day, through the open door to the parish priest's room, Fr. Władysław Stępień, saw the painting. - It was large, dark, damaged, there was a tear in one corner, but there was something intriguing and attractive about it - he says. Previously, the canvas was in the bell tower, where it, along with other unnecessary things, was waiting to be burned. - However, the parish priest thought that St. Franciszek shouldn't be burned, so he framed it and hung it in his room, says one of the discoverers. After two years of research, art historians became convinced that the author of the painting was El Greco and wrote an article about it. The publication caused a sensation and attracted outstanding art historians to the parish in Kosów Lacki, who, however, were sceptical about the authorship of the famous artist. Only conservation research under the supervision of prof. Bohdan Marconi in 1974 confirmed the hypothesis of Izabella Galicka and Hanna Sygietyńska. - During conservation, it turned out that the canvas folded on the loom had a signature: "A. van Diick", and underneath it an older, authentic one: "Dominikos Theotoko [...]." This dispelled doubts as to the authorship of the work, recalls Izabella Galicka.
It is not known when the painting came to Poland. He most likely bought it in 1927 in the second-hand bookstore of Fr. Stanisław Szepietowski at the request of his cousin, Fr. Franciszek Dąbrowski, who, when later transferred to the parish in Kosów Lacki, took the canvas with him. After his death, it was inherited by his successor, Fr. Władysław Stępień. After conservation, the painting was sent to the Diocesan Museum in Siedlce, but it was not exhibited for a long time for fear that the authorities of the Polish People's Republic might order it to be transferred to the state museum. Since 2004, "The Ecstasy of St. Francis" has been exhibited in the Diocesan Museum in Siedlce.
source National Museum in Krakow
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