Image: public domain, courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
View of Toledo
El Greco painted Toledo, the Spanish city where he lived for most of his life, under a dark, stormy sky. He moved some buildings, such as the cathedral, to make the view more striking than the real one.
🎧 Audio guide available in the 3D museum
Did you know?
- El Greco was born on the Greek island of Crete, where he first painted religious icons.
- His real name was Domenikos Theotokopoulos; in Spain he was simply called El Greco, “the Greek”.
- Before settling in Toledo, he worked in Venice, where he learned from the great Italian painters.
- Look on the left: a monastery seems to float on a cloud.
- Look below the city for the old Roman bridge over the river Tagus.
- It came to the Met in 1929 from the collection of the New York collector Louisine Havemeyer.
About the artist
El Greco (1541–1614), born Doménikos Theotokópoulos on the island of Crete, worked in Venice and Rome before settling in Toledo, Spain, in 1577.
He is famous for his elongated, flame-like figures and glowing colors, in works such as The Burial of the Count of Orgaz and View of Toledo.
In Spain everyone simply called him “the Greek”, and he proudly went on signing his paintings with his full name in Greek letters.
More works
The Assumption of the VirginEl Greco, 1577–79
Ginevra de' BenciLeonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/78
The Alba MadonnaRaphael, c. 1510
The HarvestersPieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565
Bacchanal: A Faun Teased by ChildrenGian Lorenzo Bernini, c. 1616–17
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