“View of Toledo”
The amazing art of El Greco…
“View of Toledo” is an oil on canvas painting by the Greek artist, El Greco. It was made circa 1599 to 1600 when El Greco was about 58 to 59 years old and firmly established in his career. He was part of an artistic and intellectual circle that bolstered each other up, and became bold in his art, trying things beyond normal conventions. El Greco achieved fame for his part in the Spanish Renaissance, though art critics today say that his style is so unique that it belongs to not any particular school.
Born in Crete, El Greco worked in Venice and Rome before making his way to Madrid, and then Toledo in 1577 when he was 36 years old. Toledo is approximately 48 miles southwest of Madrid and was the religious capital of Spain at the time. El Greco would spend the rest of his life and produce his most well-known works here.
The city of Toledo is seen from the northeast. Notable landmarks are visible, with structures that are still extant today. Visible are the Toledo Cathedral (formally the Primatial Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo) and the Alcázar of Toledo, both towards the right of the canvas. The Castillo de San Servando is visible on the left. The Alcantara Bridge, or Puente de Alcántara, is an arched bridge originally constructed by the Romans and is depicted spanning the Tagus River.
El Greco took some artistic liberties with this cityscape. He adjusted the skyline of Toledo to make all of the architectural highlights visible. For example, the Toledo Cathedral was moved to the right further up the hill so as not to be obscured.
There is an overall soft texture to this piece. In the foreground, trees with wispy leaves and gentle limbs reach towards the sky. The trees give way towards rich green fields. The city of Toledo sits towards the back, its gray buildings silhouetted against the sky. Dark clouds of blue, brown, and dark gray add drama to the scene.
This is one of just two surviving landscape paintings that El Greco made, the other being another view of Toledo. Landscapes were not yet a common subject and were rarely made. Because of this, some art historians speculate that this may be cut out from a larger canvas.
“View of Toledo” is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in the United States.
For more on El Greco, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
I enjoy these posts SO much. I have seen this painting reproduced and in person, but your commentary always teaches me something I didn’t know. I especially appreciate how your choices and words always allow me to look hard at a single image that I might not have spent time with when I did see it before online or in the museum where it resides. Thank you so much for doing this.
Thank you so much for this wonderful comment! It really makes me happy to know that others find the information useful and enjoyable! I love learning about art. All of the little interesting bits of information make each piece so much richer. The posts can take a while to write but comments like this make it worth it. Thank you!