''View of Toledo'' (original title ''Vista de Toledo''), is one of the two surviving

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the p ...

painted by El Greco, along with '' View and Plan of Toledo''. ''View of Toledo'' is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. ''View of Toledo'' is among the best known depictions of the sky in

Western art The art of Europe, or Western art, encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile Upper Paleolithic rock and cave painting and petroglyph art and was characteristic of the period between the Paleo ...

, along with

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

's ''

The Starry Night ''The Starry Night'' ( nl, De sterrennacht) is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Painted in June 1889, it depicts the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Prove ...

'' and the landscapes of J. M. W. Turner and

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. Durin ...

. Art historian Keith Christiansen included ''View of Toledo'' among the artist's most ambitious masterpieces, describing it as one of Western art's most celebrated landscapes.

Historical context

Dating

Art historians, specifically

Harold Wethey Harold Edwin Wethey (April 10, 1902 ― September 22, 1984) was an American art historian and educator. From 1940 to 1972, Wethey was a professor of art history at the University of Michigan. Career Born in Port Byron, Wethey received a Bach ...

, have debated the exact dating of ''View of Toledo''. There was some debate among art historians due to early literature that wrote about El Greco. The early literature that Walter Liedtke mentions in "Three Paintings by El Greco," suggests that the ''View of Toledo'' was painted after 1600 and shortly before El Greco passed in 1614. However, art historian Harold Wethey believes it was painted between 1595-1600 because of the similarities to El Greco's other piece, ''Saint Joseph and the Christ Child''. Wethey backs up this claim because ''Saint Joseph and the Christ Child'' was completed between 1597-1599. Wethey also provides more evidence by pointing out the same techniques used in the background of ''Saint Joseph and the Christ Child'' that one can see in ''View of Toledo''.

Significance of landscape

Landscape paintings were rare among Spanish paintings of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

and Baroque periods. Due to landscape paintings being so rare, some speculate that ''View of Toledo'' is actually from a larger painting. However, there has been no valid proof or confirmation to whether that is the case. The

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...

's ban against landscape painting lends credence to the idea that this work may stand as the first Spanish landscape painting of its time.

Description

''View of Toledo'' is a landscape portrait. The painting is vibrant with blues, black, white, and vivid greens. It is made up of all earth tones. Most notable is the distinct color contrast between the darkness of the skies above and the vibrance of green in the hills below. ''View of Toledo'' shows viewers an image of darkness, or moodiness that is present in Toledo. Observers can see that the sky grows exceptionally dark near the city. El Greco creates a palette full of dramatic colors. While contemplating ''View of Toledo'', people can see the contrast from light to dark. There are rolling hills depicted with Toledo at the top. The city of Toledo is very grey in contrast to the vibrant green of the hills. On the opposite end the city itself is also a light contrast to the dark color of the sky. El Greco uses pure colors to his advantage. The location of the Castle of San Servando, on the left, is accurately depicted. However, many other landmarks that are clearly referring to Toledo are not in the correct location that is true to the city. Walter Liedtke believes this is because El Greco painted the ''View of Toledo'' more as a future or a hope to what it would look like. Art historians, Jonathon Brown and Richard Kagan, have also hinted to the theory that El Greco painted the city of Toledo in an alternate way to fit his imagination or ideal version of Toledo.

Style

El Greco has a unique style with influences from Italian artists as well as Spanish and Greek. Throughout his painting career, El Greco changed his style based upon the places he lived. However, he almost always painted with influence from his Cretan or Greek roots. He often wrote in Greek and used the Greek alphabet instead of the Latin alphabet. ''View of Toledo'' carries this tradition of his Greek roots through his signature. He always signed his art with his real name, Domenikos Theotokopoulos. El Greco's signature appears in the lower-right corner. El Greco's style was known to be more uneven. That uneven detail that is normally found in his art is in his line work and in the physical location of Toledo in the painting. While influenced by the

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ita ...

style, El Greco's expressive handling of color and form is without parallel in the history of art. The Welsh art historian David Davies asserts that the philosophies of

Platonism Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary platonists do not necessarily accept all of the doctrines of Plato. Platonism had a profound effect on Western thought. Platonism at l ...

and ancient

Neo-Platonism Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some id ...

, the works of

Plotinus Plotinus (; grc-gre, Πλωτῖνος, ''Plōtînos''; – 270 CE) was a philosopher in the Hellenistic tradition, born and raised in Roman Egypt. Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of Neoplatonism. His teacher wa ...

and

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (or Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite) was a Greek author, Christian theologian and Neoplatonic philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, who wrote a set of works known as the ''Corpus Areopagiticum'' o ...

, the texts of the Church fathers and the liturgy offer the keys to the understanding of El Greco's style.D. Davies, "The Influence of Neo-Platonism on El Greco", 20 etc. D. Davies, the Byzantine Legacy in the Art of El Greco, 425–445 Summarizing the ensuing scholarly debate on this issue, José Álvarez Lopera, curator at the Museo del Prado, Madrid, concludes that the presence of "Byzantine memories" is obvious in El Greco's mature works, though there are still some obscure issues concerning his Byzantine origins needing further illumination.

Interpretation

Symbolism

The city of Toledo is at the very top of the hill in ''View of Toledo''. Art historian, Walter Liedtke, speculates that El Greco wanted to emphasize the greatness of Toledo. Due to Toledo sitting at the top, it symbolized the city's position being near heaven, yet still at the top of hill making it of earthly possession. Using medieval tradition, El Greco incorporated landmarks such as the cathedral and the Alcázar which were positioned in a manner where he could create his version of Toledo, "a city of the spirit". Toledo is the highest point it could be without being unnatural or in the sky, almost as if El Greco used the hills to work as a pedestal. It is thought that this painting's enigmatic symbolism could be related to the mysticism that infused the city during the period.

Comparison to ''View and Plan of Toledo''

''View of Toledo'' and '' View and Plan of Toledo'', on display at the El Greco Museum in Toledo, have the same city as the center of its image, but a much different appearance and message. For starters, ''View of Toledo'' was painted before the latter. It has a more vibrant feeling with all the green and white to contrast the dark blue and black. ''View and Plan of Toledo'' has a much warmer and earth tone to it with lots of browns. It is also an aerial perspective in comparison to ''View of Toledo''. For being paintings depicting Toledo, they could not be any different. However, they were believed to be commissioned by Pedro Salazar de Mendoza as they were found to be a part of his personal collection after his death. Salazar was very passionate about Toledo in every aspect. Due to Salazar's love of the city, it is believed to have inspired El Greco to paint both ''View of Toledo'' and ''View and Plan of Toledo''. View_and_Plan_of_Toledo

Notes

References

Scholarly articles and books

* * * * Christiansen, Keith (October 2004). "El Greco (1541-1614)". ''www.metmuseum.org''. Retrieved 2020-11-18 * Davies, D. "The Influence of Neo-Platonism on El Greco", 20 etc. D. Davies, the Byzantine Legacy in the Art of El Greco, 425–445 * * *

External links

Metropolitan Museum of Art – View of ToledoEssay on this painting from the book ''Beauty and Terror'' by Brian A. OardPainting of El Greco
{{El Greco Paintings by El Greco 1590s paintings Landscape paintings Paintings in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art