Laocoön by El Greco (Interpretation and Analysis)

Laocoön
Source: National Gallery of Art

In this history of Western art, the painter El Greco stands out as one of the most unique artists of all time. I’ve written about El Greco many times on this blog. He was a visionary, a man who was ahead of his time in many ways. Although he worked in Spain during the sixteenth century, his work appears exceptionally modern to twenty-first century viewers. 

His work is characterized by distorted, elongated figures and a strange, grey-toned color scheme. His style has a painterly quality that gives it an energetic aura. Although some aspects of El Greco’s style (a name that literally means the Greek, a reference to the artist’s birth place) are in keeping with the Mannerist movement, his paintings exhibit a singular style totally unique to the artist.

This painting, entitled Laocoön, is particularly unique. The piece tells the story of the demise of the mythological figure Laocoön, a character in Virgil’s Aeneid. Virgil recounts the death of Laocoön in the following words:

“But they went on straight toward Laocoön, and first each serpent
Seized in its coils, his two young sons, and fastened
the fangs in those poor bodies. And the priest
Struggled to help them…
They seized him, bound him with their mighty coils…
He uttered horrible cries, not even human
More like the bellowing of a bull, when wounded.”

Laocoön was the only mythological scene that El Greco ever created. It is a fantastical painting, capturing the agony of Laocoön and his sons as twisting serpents assail them. Their bodies are unnaturally elongated and distorted, appearing almost to be engaged in a strange dance. Their physical suffering is also representative of their psychological suffering, with the painting offering a bizarrely moralistic scene. The strange, dark landscape is part of this dynamic. The tempestuous scenery captures Laocoön’s distress.

As the Prado Museum describes the painting, “The push-and-pull between the taut, overlapping, angular bodies and the arabesques formed by the serpents together with the threatening storm clouds, the unforgiving landscape, and illogically constructed space contribute to a singularly nightmarish scene of upheaval.”

Disclaimer: I’m not an art historian or an expert on this topic. The above is my opinion, based on my interpretation of my foreknowledge of art and history. If I’ve done any additional research, I’ll note it above.