The Burial of the Count of Orgaz

Two saints in gold vestments stoop from the air to lower the armored body of a pious nobleman into his grave, while above them his soul rises through a tear in the sky toward a swirling, elongated heaven of Christ, the Virgin, and the blessed. Below, a row of black-clad Toledo gentlemen - El Greco's contemporaries, his own son among them - witness the miracle. The earthly tier is dense, particular portraiture; the celestial one melts into flame-like distortion. Painted for the church of Santo Tome, where it still remains, it is his acknowledged masterpiece.