Greece

2014

Commemorative coin

400 years since the death of Domenikos Theotokopoulos (El Greek)(1614-2014)

Official Journal of the European Union

The inner part of the coin shows a portrait of Domenikos Theotokopoulos. The background features a typical figure from his work, illustrative of his technique. On the left: the year 2014 and the characteristic signature of the artist (‘Domenikos Theotokopoulos Epoiei’). On the right: the mint mark of the Greek State Mint. The entire design is encircled in an inscription reading in Greek ‘DOMENIKOS THEOTOKOPOULOS 1541-1614’ and the name of the issuing country ‘HELLENIC REPUBLIC’. The coin’s outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.

Additional information

The commemorative coin is dedicated to Domínikos Theotokópoulos (Greek Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος) (1541-1614), called El Greco, the painter, sculptor and architect from Crete (at that time part of the Republic of Venice). Trained as an icon painter of the Byzantine tradition, he came into contact with Titian's High Renaissance art in Venice in 1567, opened his own workshop in Rome in 1572 and went to Toledo in 1576, where he became an exponent of Spanish Mannerism. On the right is the self-portrait of El Greco from 1604 (oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), which was assumed to be a "portrait of a man". On the left is the portrait of the apostle Paul, painted around 1612.

Edge lettering

Designer