View and plan of Toledo

This work is of particular relevance and rarity, since this type of composition was unheard of in Spain - with the exception of the Flemish style of print, with which El Greco may have been familiar through his contacts with Toledo’s intellectual circle. In this way, in his depiction of the most important modern buildings of the time, El Greco did his bit in spreading the new look of the changing face of the city: the Alcázar (the Moorish Palace), Puerta de Bisagra (the Bisagra Gateway) and, above all, the Hospital de Tavera, which clearly dominates the scene. while at the same time hiding the city’s key Medieval buildings: the Cathedral and the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes. El Greco uses this View to offer an allegorical picture of the city of Toledo’s glorious past. Thus, he highlights its Roman past by depicting a river god pouring water, symbolising the River Tagus. It also portrays the nature of its privileged location thanks to divine intervention by depicting the miracle of the apparition of the Virgin to place the chasuble on St Ildefonso, the Visigoth bishop of Toledo.