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I wonder if El Greco comment on Michelangelo was less a general statement and more philosophical or something more detailed?

I find sometimes folks who are deep into a topic make statements about others who are similarly deep in that topic that sound very broad and general to me ... but really are more focused / about other things.

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Lacking knowledge in this area, it's hard to say; might have to do with the painting techniques he was using?

As contemporaries, although El Greco was only in his early twenties when Michelangelo died, I guess one would have less reverence for a fellow artist as one might have now many hundred years later.

Artistic exceptionalism. The painters I work with have nothing but endless criticisms and contempt for each other's thinking. "To them, all art stopped in $era. They have no appreciation or talent for $mystyle" is an incredibly common sentiment confided to one, given some time and not necessarily a willing ear.

El Greco saw himself as a master painter and colorist but Michaelangelo as just another passably capable producer of frescos and drawn bodies, a prolific grunt with no taste or style.

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