El Greco and the light
On a pleasant spring afternoon, a friend went to visit the painter El Greco. To his surprise, he found him in his atelier with all curtains drawn.
Greco was working on a painting which had the Virgin Mary as the central theme, using only a candle to illuminate the environment.
Surprised, the friend said: “I have always heard that painters like the sun in order to choose well the colours they will use. Why don’t you open the curtains?”
“Not now,” answered El Greco. “It would disturb the brilliant fire of inspiration that is burning in my soul and filling with light everything around me.”
