Quote from a report of the municipal of Toledo, c. September 1579; as cited by Albert F. Calvert, and Catherine Gasquoine-Hartley in: The Spanish Series - El Greco; an account of his life and works; publisher, London: J. Lane; New York: J. Lane Co, 1909, p. 76
• this answer El Greco gave to the Mayor of Toledo, when asked - in connection with the writ served on him for the commissioned painting 'The Disrobing of Christ / The Expolio' - whether he had been brought to Toledo to paint the retablo of Santo Domingo (containing 15 paintings of El Greco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Greco#/media/File:Domenikos_Theotok%C3%B3poulos,_called_El_Greco_-_The_Assumption_of_the_Virgin_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
“

I am neither bound to say why I came to this city nor to answer the other questions put to me.

— El Greco

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I am neither bound to say why I came to this city nor to answer the other questions put to me." in the context of "Quote from a report of the municipal of Toledo, c. September 1579; as cited by Albert F. Calvert, and Catherine Gasquoine-Hartley in: The Spanish Series - El Greco; an account of his life and works; publisher, London: J. Lane; New York: J. Lane Co, 1909, p. 76
• this answer El Greco gave to the Mayor of Toledo, when asked - in connection with the writ served on him for the commissioned painting 'The Disrobing of Christ / The Expolio' - whether he had been brought to Toledo to paint the retablo of Santo Domingo (containing 15 paintings of El Greco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Greco#/media/File:Domenikos_Theotok%C3%B3poulos,_called_El_Greco_-_The_Assumption_of_the_Virgin_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "El Greco" (Quotes of El Greco: sorted chronologically, by date of the quotes of El Greco) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
El Greco

About El Greco

Doménikos Theotokópoulos (Greek language: Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος, 1541–7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco (Spanish language for "The Greek"), was a painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. The nickname "El Greco" refers both to his Greek origin and Spanish citizenship. The artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek alphabet: Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος (Doménikos Theotokópoulos), often adding the word Κρής (Krēs, "Cretan"). El Greco is regarded as a precursor of both Expressionism and Cubism.