El Greco was born around 1541 in Crete, which was then part of the Republic of Venice. Age around 25, he travelled to Venice and studied art with Titian, the most famous painter of his time. A decade later, El Greco moved to Toledo, Spain, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life, producing his most famous paintings - Adoration of the Holy Name of Jesus (1578-79), Pietà (1580-1590), Christ Carrying the Cross (around 1600). Many of his works are considered precursors to expressionism and cubism.