View+of+Toledo+(painting)

=View of Toledo (painting)= The painting //View of Toledo// is an oil painting from the Greek artist El Greco. El Greco was a very famous architect, painter, and sculpter of the Spainish Renaissance period. The painting is one of only two landscape paintings from El Greco that have survived. The second painting, //View and Plan of Toledo// is on display at Museo Del Greco in Toledo, while //View of Toledo// is in a collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

The painting is actually a view of Toledo as seen from outside of town, but El Greco took some liberties with the exact placement of the buildings. The painting resembles what Toledo looked like in the a storm becuase of its dramatic sky with lightning in it. In fact, along with //The Starry Night// by Vincent Van Gogh, //View of Toledo// is considered to have one of the most famous portrayals of the sky in all of art. This is mainly because of the emotional feel of the clouds and the extreme contrast between the color of the sky and of the hills and town below. Painting in the Baroque style, it took El Greco four years to complete the work, starting the painting in 1596 and finishing in in 1600.