El Greco's Vision of Saint Lawrence Comes to Madrid's Palacio de Liria
Madrid has a new El Greco. On 27 October 2026 the Fundación Casa de Alba presented Aparición de la Virgen a San Lorenzo (Appearance of the Virgin to Saint Lawrence), c. 1577–1580, as its latest “obra invitada” at the Palacio de Liria. The canvas, on loan from the Colegio de Nuestra Señora de la Antigua in Monforte de Lemos, will remain on view in the Salón Español until 31 January 2027. The picture below is our vintage poster of the same painting; the original is shown further down.
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What: Temporary exhibition of El Greco’s Appearance of the Virgin to Saint Lawrence (c. 1577–1580)
Where: Palacio de Liria, Madrid (Salón Español)
When: From 27 October 2026 to 31 January 2027
Who: Fundación Casa de Alba; lender: Colegio de Nuestra Señora de la Antigua, Monforte de Lemos
Section: Museums & Exhibitions
What happened
The Fundación Casa de Alba continues its “Obra invitada” programme with one of the earliest Spanish works by El Greco. The painting has left its permanent home in Monforte de Lemos (Lugo) for three months and now hangs in the richly decorated Salón Español of the Palacio de Liria, in dialogue with other works from the Casa de Alba collection, including another El Greco (Christ on the Cross) and pieces by Velázquez and Zurbarán.
Fernando Fitz-James Stuart y Solís, Duke of Huéscar and vice-president of the Fundación, noted the long family connection with the Colegio de Monforte and recalled that the canvas was restored by his great-grandfather in the 1920s at the Museo del Prado.
Why it matters
Painted shortly after El Greco’s arrival in Toledo, the picture still carries the weight of his Venetian and Roman training while already showing the elongated figures, intense colour and spiritual urgency that would define his later Spanish years. It is the only known version of this subject by the artist and was commissioned (or at least closely linked to) Cardinal Rodrigo de Castro Osorio, founder of the Colegio de Nuestra Señora de la Antigua.
Seeing it outside its usual home offers a rare chance to study an early Spanish El Greco in a different architectural and lighting context, and to place it alongside later works by the same hand.
The painting behind the story
The vintage poster at the top of this story is after El Greco’s Appearance of the Virgin to Saint Lawrence, painted around 1577–1580. Saint Lawrence stands in a sumptuous brocaded dalmatic of gold and crimson, the gridiron of his martyrdom in his right hand. His gaze rises toward the upper right, where the Virgin and Child emerge from luminous clouds in a shaft of golden light. The monumental figure still recalls the Roman and Venetian lessons of his Italian years, while the heightened colour and spiritual intensity already point toward the mature Toledo style.
Hang El Greco’s Appearance of the Virgin to Saint Lawrence — the richly embroidered dalmatic, the upward gaze and the luminous vision — as a vintage art poster from the Sapiens Verbum print shop.
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Hang El Greco’s Appearance of the Virgin to Saint Lawrence as he painted it — the richly embroidered dalmatic, the upward gaze and the luminous vision — as a print, canvas or framed print from the Sapiens Verbum print shop.
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💬 Over to you: El Greco painted this shortly after arriving in Spain. Do you already see the future Toledo style here, or does it still feel more Italian to you? And where in the world are you reading from? Tell us in the comments.
Sources
- La Razón: El Greco llega al Palacio de Liria, 27 October 2026
- Europa Press: La Fundación Casa de Alba recibe como obra invitada el cuadro ‘Aparición de la Virgen a San Lorenzo’, 27 October 2026
- Wikimedia Commons: Aparición de la Virgen a San Lorenzo (El Greco)
- Wikipedia: Saint Lawrence’s Vision of the Madonna and Child
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