Apostle Saint Simon 1610 - 1614

Curator: Here we have "Apostle Saint Simon" by El Greco, painted sometime between 1610 and 1614. What's your initial reaction to it? Editor: Austere. A face emerging from darkness, intensely focused. It feels like a revelation happening quietly, in the turning of a page. Curator: The figure's lit so dramatically, a golden yellow on one side contrasting with a cooler blue on the other, really drawing our eye to the book. The high contrast heightens the spiritual feel of the painting. It's signature El Greco, with his elongated figures and those emotionally charged faces. Editor: The book becomes almost an extension of him, doesn’t it? Symbolically, he IS the word, embodying the wisdom contained within. Books often signify knowledge and divine revelation in art, but here it's as if Saint Simon *is* that revelation made manifest. I see echoes of ancient oracles and seers. Curator: Absolutely. And I think that intensity, almost a fervor, is heightened by the Mannerist style El Greco embraced. The elongated fingers holding the book, that slightly unsettling gaze. There's a passion there, a complete devotion. Makes me wonder, what's he reading? Is it a prophecy, a psalm, or a particularly delicious recipe? Editor: The content almost doesn’t matter. It’s the act of engaging with sacred text, of interpretation and understanding that's key. And it links back to the archetype of the wise elder, the bearer of tradition. Even his beard—the sign of a man with something to say. Curator: Yes, but El Greco also does this wonderful thing, defying iconographic convention, making the religious seem… well, profoundly human. You could see echoes of your own grandfather in this painting, stooped over a worn tome, utterly lost in thought. Editor: Which reminds us that saints were people. By imbuing Simon with that humanity, El Greco lets us glimpse our own potential for that level of devotion, for connecting to something transcendent through study and reflection. That image stays with you. Curator: I think you’ve unlocked something fundamental about this piece. Now, looking again, that initial austerity melts away, replaced by a feeling of quiet hope, of human potential unearthed in a very uncertain world. Editor: Agreed. We came looking for Saint Simon and perhaps we found something more about ourselves in the process, didn't we?