El Greco’s Toledo

El Greco”s mesmerising and dramatic View of Toledo. Painted around ~1600. I love the threatening clouds, the hills seem about to swallow the town or perhaps slide into the Tajo below. This is one of the earliest examples of a landscape painting though it is not a true topographical representation.

View of Toledo

El Greco’s later painted View and Plan of Toledo (1608). This canvas offers a multiple viewpoint; a panoramic. The River Tajo is seen here asa  sculpture pouring water and so prosperity, apparently part of the town’s propaganda campaign to convince Philip II and his court to return to Toledo from Madrid.

View and Plan of Toledo