Explore the Ownership of this artwork, Opening of the Fifth Seal.
Upon El Greco's death in 1614, the work passed to his son, Jorge Manuel Theotocópuli. During the 19th century, it was owned by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, Prime Minister of Spain. Dissatisfied with the condition of the piece, he attempted to have it restored in 1880. The attempted restoration removed at least 175 centimetres (69 inches) from the top of the canvas, leaving John the Evangelist emphatically pointing nowhere.
After Cánovas' death in 1897, the painting was sold for 1,000 pesetas (US$200) to Ignacio Zuloaga, a painter who was instrumental in reviving European interest in El Greco. The painting may be seen in the background of his work Mis amigos, representing several notable members of the Generation of '98. Zuloaga is known to have shown the painting to Pablo Picasso and Rainer Maria Rilke. He declared it as possessing a "visionary power" that made it a "precursor of modernism". In 1956, the Zuloaga Museum sold this artwork to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where it is on exhibit today.
New York City El Greco Ignacio Zuloaga canvas Rainer Maria Rilke x pesetas in Generation of '98 Prime Minister of Spain Mis amigos Jorge Manuel Theotocópuli El Greco's Metropolitan Museum of Art Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Pablo Picasso