Frequently asked questions
Which size should I choose?
This work is available in 30 × 40 cm, 50 × 70 cm, 70 × 100 cm. As a guide: 30 × 40 cm (about 12 × 16 in) for shelves, corners or gallery walls; 50 × 70 cm (about 20 × 28 in) above a dresser, a headboard or a desk; 70 × 100 cm (about 28 × 39 in) as the centrepiece of a living room or the wall above the sofa. Below the buy buttons you can see it to scale above a 2-metre sofa.
Does it come framed?
The print arrives unframed with a white border, ready to frame. If you choose a black or oak frame, it arrives mounted behind acrylic glazing, ready to hang. Canvases come stretched on a wooden frame.
When will it arrive?
Printed to order at the lab closest to your address. It arrives in 4–8 working days in Spain and the EU, and in 6–12 working days in the US, Mexico and other destinations.
What if it arrives damaged?
Email us a photo within 30 days of delivery and we will send you a new one free of charge or refund you.
Can I send it as a gift?
Yes. At checkout you can write a gift message and ship it to the recipient's name and address. The parcel shows no prices.
About the work
- Artist
- El Greco
- Date
- 1570
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Collection
- Museo di Capodimonte, Naples
- Print up to
- 70 × 100 cm
- Reference
- XDV-1154
What the museum label doesn't tell you
Look closely: there's no lit candle, no lamp, no window. Every bit of light on this face comes from a tiny ember hidden between the boy's fingers. El Greco sets himself an almost laboratory-like challenge here: paint the effect without showing its source, solving an optical problem first posed by ancient Greek painters according to Pliny the Elder. This isn't a Venetian workshop whim - it's a young painter proving he can reconstruct something that only existed in ancient texts. A decade later he reused this exact figure in The Fable, now surrounded by moral warnings about lust. Does the gesture change meaning, or was he just recycling what he knew worked?
