‘La Asunción’ del Greco returns to the Prado National Museum more than a century later

The great canvas ‘La Asunción’ of El Greco returns to Spain to be exhibited at the Prado Museum after being more than a century out of the country. Thanks to an agreement reached with the Art Institute of Chicago, owner of the work since 1906, the picture can be visited as of February 18 at the exhibition ‘El Greco. Santo Domingo El Antigua ‘, sponsored by the Friends of the Prado Foundation.

‘La Asunción’ del Greco was acquired in 1830 by infant Sebastián Gabriel and after the confiscation of his collection in 1836, the work passed to the Trinity Museum. Retrieved by the infant in 1859, he accompanied him until his exile in France. After his death in 1875, his collection dispersed among his heirs who lend the assumption to Prado in 1902 to be part of the first exhibition dedicated to Greco. Nancy Atwood Sprague bought it in 1904 in Paris and, later, donated it to the Art Institute of Chicago, where it remains now.

History of the work

In mid -1577, newcomer to Spain, El Greco obtained the two “most important” commission from his career to date: ‘El Pugolio’ for the Toledo Cathedral and the three altarpieces of the monastery of Cistercian nuns of Santo Domingo el Antigua , one of the oldest cenobios in the city. For the latter commission, the Greco made for the main altar a powerful altabolic structure whose canvases are scattered today, and also took care of the two lateral altars.

‘The Assumption’ is the central work of the altarpiece, where Maria’s rise to the heavens assisted by a group of angels is represented, the Virgin is on the increasing moon 2, rising on the open grave around which The apostles group, covered with stillness and with mesurated gestures. It was surely the first fabric made by El Greco for the monastic team and probably also on Spanish soil. Perhaps that is why it is the only one of its production including the date: 1577, the year in which it arrived in Spain.

This painting, which belonged to the convent of Santo Domingo El Old in Toledo, aroused the interest of Infante Sebastián Gabriel, who commissioned Valeriano Salvatierra the acquisition of the work. The purchase was made with great discretion, given the high value of the piece, for 14,000 reais on August 13, 1830. To replace it in the altarpiece, a copy was commissioned to Luis Ferrant and Carlos Luis de Ribera, which cost 8,000 reais. Subsequently, in 1836, the infant’s collection was confiscated by the Government and subsequently deposited in the newly created Trinity Museum. After recovering their assets in 1859, Sebastián Gabriel brought his collection with him to his exile in Pau, France.

After the death of Infante Sebastián Gabriel de Borbón in 1875, his art collection, including the assumption of Greco, remained in the hands of his widow, the infant María Cristina de Borbón. At his death in 1902, the heirs lent the painting to the Prado Museum between 1902 and 1904. In 1904, the work was acquired by the Parisian march Paul Durand-Ruel, with financing of HO hasmeyer, thanks to the intermediation of the American painter Mary Cassatt. Finally, in 1906, it was sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, where it is currently.