El Greco - The Baptism of Christ (Mannerism)

Baptism of Christ
1596-1600
Oil on canvas,111 x 47
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome

The first time i saw this piece of work was in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome. Not knowing why, but I was pretty transfixed with this piece of work and ever since got hooked on El Greco. Incidentally that encounter was the first time I got to know about El Greco and ignorantly thought he was some obscure mannerist painter. It turned out his style influenced a generation of artists including Velaquez and Francis Bacon...I was thinking perhaps this is how art should be judeged. It strikes a cord with the audience regardless of the reputation of the artist. The aesthetic experience is not an artefact of prior knowledge.