Domenikos Theotokopoulos was born in Crete, which was then part of the Venetian Republic, where he trained as a painter of religious icons. He moved to Venice itself (where he was said to have been a pupil of Titian), then Rome before finally settling in the Spanish town of Toledo by 1577 where he spent the rest of his career at the head of a busy studio. The nickname of El Greco by which he is now universally known conflates the Italian and the Spanish for ‘the Greek’. His highly individual style, with its elongated figures and distinctive colour, draws on his knowledge of Byzantine and Venetian art as well as his admiration for Michelangelo.

This mysterious painting is one of several variations on this theme by El Greco. An earlier painting by him, now in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, shows the single figure of a boy blowing on a piece of kindling to light a candle. The unusual subject may have been inspired by an account in the writings of Pliny the Elder which describes a now lost painting by the Greek artist Antiphilus of a boy blowing on fire. It was not unusual for Renaissance and later artists to attempt to re-create lost paintings from classical antiquity and to match their skills to the ancients. In other versions of the subject, including the Edinburgh picture, El Greco expands the composition, here adding a monkey and a man in a yellow cloak and red hat.

Over the years, scholars have advanced various theories about how the picture should be interpreted. It has often been read as an allegory of lust and a warning against the temptations of our basest instincts. The monkey was traditionally a symbol of depravity and, in combination with the foolish, open-mouthed expression of the man, this might suggest that the picture was intended to convey some moralising message about the arousal of sexual passion. Alternatively, the brief flicker of flame could be interpreted as a vanitas, a reminder of the brevity of human life and the risks of wasting time on the pursuit of sensual pleasures. It is also possible that the picture illustrated a now forgotten proverb or fable.

While the exact subject of the work remains elusive, it is the power of painting to evoke a moment of suspended time that is truly captivating. The boy, with his lips pursed, blows gently on the ember, causing it to glow and cast a flash of eerie light over this bizarre little group. The drama here resides in a silent human breath, a wick tentatively touching an ember, and the intense concentration of the onlookers as they wait to see whether the flame will take hold.

This text was originally published in 100 Masterpieces: National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2015.