AN AMATEUR collector went to his grave 60 years ago, unable to convince scholars that he had discovered a painting by El Greco.

Now Emilios Velimezis, a Greek businessman who bought icons of the 15th and 16th centuries, has been proved right after all, to the excitement of today’s art experts.

The Passion of Christ — Pietà with Angels, painted in 1566 by the Master dubbed a prophet of modern art, will be unveiled to the British public this week, as part of an important exhibition at the British Library. The attribution was clinched by the discovery of a fading photograph taken in 1938 which shows that the painting once bore the artist’s signature — under his real name, Domenikos Theotokopoulos — beneath Christ’s feet.

The painting, which measures 68.7cm by 45cm (27in by 18in), had been photographed just before the signature was removed, along with old varnish, by an overzealous restorer.

El Greco (1541-1614), who is thought to have raised enough money from the sale of this painting to leave his native island of Crete, was one of the most original artists of his age.

He is revered for his highly expressive and visionary religious paintings. Van Gogh, Gauguin and Picasso were among countless artists inspired by his elongated figures, free brushwork and use of light.

Nano Chatzidakis, curator of the British Library exhibition and Professor of Byzantine Art and Archaeology at the University of Ioannina, unearthed the restorer’s photograph.

She said: “I could not believe it. I started screaming. It was one of the most important moments in my life, after the birth of my children.”

She described the painting as “a landmark in the great Cretan master’s artistic journey”, a work that combines a Western character with the gold ground technique of Cretan icons. Its value is estimated at £750,000.

Scholars had dismissed it in the 1940s because they were unaware of the photograph’s existence. No one knew at that time that El Greco had painted icons. Stylistically, the work’s figures and its treatment of the dead body of Christ have now be linked with other works.

Robin Cormack, Professor of the History of Art at the Courtauld Institute in London, spoke of its links in style with another rediscovered El Greco painting, The Baptism, which was sold at Christie’s 18 months ago. “There are two new paintings by El Greco. Together they suddenly show you we have more information about early El Greco than we ever thought we had,” he said.

The latest discovery was among 90 icons collected by Velimezis (1902-1946), most of which had been produced in Venetian-held Crete. Much of the collection is now with the Benaki Museum, which is lending works to the British Library. The exhibition, made possible by the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, runs from today until September 21.

MASTER OF CRETE

• The painter, sculptor and architect known as El Greco (the Greek) signed his paintings with his Greek name, Domenikos Theotokopoulos
  
  
• Between 1568 and 1577, he lived in Venice and Rome, where he came under the influence of Titian, Tintoretto and Michelangelo
  
  
• He eventually settled in Toledo, Spain, although he was for-ever influenced by his birthplace
  
  
• Historians have suggested that his elongated, distorted figures were influenced by his astigmatism
  
  
• Velázquez owned several of his works