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Greco was rediscovered by Cezanne" and that Cezanne was "attracted by the three-dimensional design of El Greco. Cezanne, himself an extremist in some respects, was insidiously drawn towards the extreme mannerism in the works of El Greco's last period. On these late works, rather than on the masterpieces of Greco's middle period, Cezanne based much of his own practice." (Rutter 2)

Thus Picasso, in studying Cezanne, could quite naturally have recalled El Greco, whom we know Picasso had never really abandoned as a master. Leo Steinberg quoted Picasso as saying that El Greco's pictures were already cubist in structure. (Picasso qtd. in Steinberg 131).

Barr wrote "As the painting (the "Demoiselles) developed it is also possible that memories of El Greco's compact figure composition and angular highlights of his draperies, rocks and clouds may have confirmed the suggestion drawn from Cezanne." Barr reproduced the "Assumption of the Virgin" to illustrate his statement. (Barr 54 and 256).

Gomez de la Serna, a Spanish writer and friend to Picasso at this time, recalled that Picasso's walls at thne "Bateau Lavoir," where Picasso lived and worked, were decorated with reproductions of El Greco's work. (de la Serna qtd. in Penrose 16 and 39).

Others have made the association with El Greco. In 1980, Ron Johnson, re-emphasized the El Greco influence, but pointed directly to El Greco's "Apocalyptic Vision" (40F) in the Metropolitan Museum of as a possible source for "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon." (Rubin 236 and 98).

MASKS

Picasso had an early appreciation for the role of masks as shown in his painting "Mask: Bride of El Greco" 1900 (57), which also demonstrated his acknowledged admiration for El Greco. This elongated mask is quite revealing when compared with masks Picasso placed over faces in his paintings and drawings in 1906-1907. A source for his own self portrait with a palette in the

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