El Greco: The Dream of Philip II/ The adoration of the name of Jesus (1577-80)

(El Escorial, Madrid, Spain)

A painting by the Greek artist Doménikos Theotokópoulos (1541-1614), better known as El Greco (= the Greek). This painting was probably made for king Philip II of Spain (1527-1598). the subject of this piece is a line from the New Testament:

9. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:9-11)

At the top of the painting are the letters IHS - the first letters of Jesus in Greek (IHSOUS). As in the text of the New Testament, everyone is shown kneeling and venerating the name of Jesus: in Heaven angels and saints are kneeling while on earth the people, including king Philip II, Don John of Austria, the Venetian doge Sebastiano Venier and pope Gregory XIII. At the right are the sinners who are being swallowed by a monstrous beast, symbolizing Hell which is swimming in a sea of fire.The inclusion of Don Juan of Austria (1547-1578), an an illegitimate son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and with that a half-brother of king Philip II of Spain, had led to suggestion that the painting also symbolizes the victory at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Don Juan of Austria was the commander of the allied fleet (called the Holy League - an alliance between Spain, Venice and the Papacy) and managed to defeat a large Ottoman fleet, stopping the Ottoman military expansion into the Mediterranean.The painting is known by several names: 'The dream of Philip II', 'The adoration of the name of Jesus' and 'An allegory of the Holy League'. El Greco made several copies of this work. This one, the original, comes from 1577-1580.