Inspired Through Art – Greco’s Expolio: A Synopsis of the Passion

The sacristy of the Cathedral in Toledo, Spain, houses a painting made in the late sixteenth century by Domenikos Theotocopoulos, better known by his nickname, El Greco. In the center of the picture, we behold Christ wearing a brilliant red tunic. All the other figures—clad in gray, green, yellow, or blue—fall into subordinate places around Christ, as cool bodies gathered around a flame. A man in green takes hold of the red garment at its neckline to begin the divestment, the “expolio.” The brutal removal of the vesture, and its imminent sundering by the executioners, vividly reminds the clerics vesting in the sanctuary for Mass, and all of us, to be prepared for martyrdom.