View of Toledoca. 1599–1600
Storm clouds churn over Toledo, the city where El Greco lived from 1577 until his death, and the green hills seem lit by an unearthly glow. More about this work
About this work
Storm clouds churn over Toledo, the city where El Greco lived from 1577 until his death, and the green hills seem lit by an unearthly glow. He did not record the view literally: buildings such as the cathedral are shifted from their true positions and parts of the city are left out, so that the landscape becomes a portrait of the city’s spirit rather than a topographical record. Below the walls lie the bridge of Alcántara and the castle of San Servando. It is one of only two landscapes by El Greco to survive.
Written by Ochre Editions.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
El Greco
Spanish, 1541–1614 · Born in Iráklion (Candia); died in Toledo.
El Greco, “the Greek”, was born in Crete and trained in the Byzantine icon tradition before studying Venetian painting and working in Rome. From 1577 he lived in Toledo, where his first major commission was the high altarpiece of Santo Domingo el Antiguo, to which The Assumption of the Virgin belongs. His mature style, with elongated figures, flickering light and acid colour, found few imitators in his time but was rediscovered with enthusiasm by modern painters.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Met has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 29.100.6
- Credit
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Type
- Paintings
- Department
- European Paintings
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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