EL GRECO

The biographer of Leonardo da Vinci -- and now of El Greco -- turns from her role as journalist to her original training as an artist and an art historian. And the result, again in this book, is that the reader has the sense of being taken by a perceptive guide to the paintings, being shown them with heightened appreciation and understanding, and given their background in the life of the artist and his times. While little is actually known of El Greco's career, the basic facts are sketched in, and close study of the changes and development in his work, the inclusion of recognizable figures in his background groups, the weighing of the evidence of history and legend, combine to sift fact from fiction and leave what seems a sound portrait of the man and his world. From Crete to Venice to Rome to Toledo, where he put down permanent roots, one learns to see him through his work, and to appreciate more fully the rich heritage he left.