I need to write an essay in response to the following prompt. History is full of people whose reputations in their days and in later days are much...

The first step in completing the assignment is choosing an artist. Since you haven't mentioned what sort of course the assignment is for or any limitations in period or region, perhaps the best way to help you get started would be to discuss a possible artist you could choose for your project. 

One interesting choice might be Domenikos Theotokopoulos (c. 1541–1614), who is better known as El Greco. Not only has his reputation varied widely, but...

The first step in completing the assignment is choosing an artist. Since you haven't mentioned what sort of course the assignment is for or any limitations in period or region, perhaps the best way to help you get started would be to discuss a possible artist you could choose for your project. 

One interesting choice might be Domenikos Theotokopoulos (c. 1541–1614), who is better known as El Greco. Not only has his reputation varied widely, but also some people understand him as a Greek artist who began his career in his native Crete as a painter of icons, some associate him with Venice where he moved as an adult, and others consider him part of the tradition of Spanish art, as he was most successful as an artist after he settled permanently in Spain. While in some periods his work was dismissed as mannered and eccentric, the Romantics admired his individualism, and his reputation has grown since that period.