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Portrait of Fray Hortensio Félix Paravicino
Ca. 1609
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts
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This picture is considered El Greco’s most impressive portrait. It shows Fray Hortensio Félix Paravicino y Artega. Paravicino was one of the most distinguished personalities of his time. He was a monk, poet, humanist and court preacher to Philip III and Philip IV. El Greco and Fray Hortensio held each other in high regard, and a close friendship grew up between the two despite a difference in age of over thirty years. El Greco painted this portrait of his friend, who was aged twenty-nine. Fray Hortensio, for his part, dedicated six sonnets to the painter, and lavished extravagant praise on the portrait. In one sonnet the poet claimed that the portrait surpassed reality, and that it was indeed a better home for his soul than his own body.
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