The Sacristy of the Cathedral
El Greco Venues
The Baptism of Jesus, El Greco´s unfinished painting
The Tavera Hospital
Church of Santo Tomé
The burial of the Count of Orgaz
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Chapel of San José
The most innovative altarpiece created by El Greco
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The wealthy trader from Toledo, MartÃn RamÃrez, ceded various houses to Saint Teresa in order to set up the fifth Convent of Discalced Carmelite Nuns in Toledo. Her death interrupted the project and her heirs decided to build a chapel on the same spot dedicated to Saint Joseph, based on designs by Nicolás de Vergara. The Chapel was consecrated in 1594. Conceived as a private funereal oratory, the chapel presents the tombs of the founders on each side of the main altar.
The altarpieces and paintings inside were commissioned from El Greco in 1597. The main altarpiece, which is considered to be the most innovative of those created by El Greco, only preserves two of the paintings that were originally created by the painter, namely "Saint Joseph and the Child" and, at the top, "The Coronation of the Virgin." The paintings in the side altarpieces, "Saint Martin and the Beggar" and "The Virgin and Child with Saint Martina and Saint Agnes," were purchased in the early twentieth century by the National Gallery of Washington.
The chapel, which is privately owned, has belonged to the same family since it was founded, that of the Marquis and Marchioness of Eslava, and it has preserved its original ambience exactly as El Greco conceived it at the time.
Convent of Santo Domingo
el Antiguo
First works by El Greco in Toledo
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The Convent was founded in the twelfth century and is one of the oldest in Toledo, which is what gives rise to its name, "El Antiguo."
With regard to its different transformations over time, El Greco took part in the renovation of its altarpieces when Diego de Castilla, Dean of the Cathedral, commissioned the high altar and side altars of the church in 1577. This was the artist's first commission during his Toledan period, in which he employed the artistic language he had acquired in Italy, combining it with a personal form of expression that gradually grew in stature the longer he lived in the city.
El Greco designed the three altarpieces, with the central retable subsequently being modified by Monegro. He painted nine works for them in all, seven for the main altar and two for the side altars.
Today, the following works remain in their original location: "Saint John the Evangelist" and "Saint John the Baptist" in the main altar and "The Resurrection of Christ" in the right-hand side altar.
The other works, which today have been replaced with copies, are preserved at the following institutions: the main canvas, "The Assumption of the Virgin" at the Art Institute of Chicago; "Saint Benedict and The Trinity" at the Prado Museum; "The Adoration of the Shepherds" at the Banco Santander Collection; and "The Holy Countenance" (La Santa Faz) at the Juan March Collection and the "Saint Bernard" at the Hermitage Museum of Saint Petersburg.Upon his death, El Greco was buried in a crypt at the Convent, although his son later removed his remains.
Works by El Greco in the Convent of Santo Domingo el Antiguo:
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San Juan Evangelista
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San Juan Bautista
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La Resurrección de Cristo con San Ildefonso
Works by El Greco in The Cathedral of Toledo:
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El Expolio de Cristo
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San Pedro en lágrimas
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San Francisco y Fray Luis meditando sobre la muerte
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San José y el niño
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Cristo en la Cruz
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Santo Domingo en oración
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El Redentor
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San Pedro
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San Pablo
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San Juan
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San Mateo
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San Lucas
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San Judas
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San Andrés
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San Felipe
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Santiago el Mayor
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Santiago el Menor
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Santo Tomás
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San Simón
Works by El Greco in The Tavera Hospital:
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La Sagrada Familia con Santa Ana
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San Pedro en lágrimas
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El Cardenal Tavera
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San Francisco arrodillado en oración
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El Bautismo de Jesús
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Cristo Resucitado
Works by Greco in The Chapel of San José:
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San José y el Niño
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La Coronación de la Virgen
Works by Greco in the Church of Santo Tomé:
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The burial of the Count of Orgaz
A real art gallery presided over by El Expolio
(The Disrobing of Christ)
The Sacristy was built in the early seventeenth century, based on the designs of Nicolás de Vergara the Younger and Juan Bautista Monegro. It consists of a large rectangular room of sober Classical style, featuring a barrel vault decorated with frescoes by the Neapolitan painter, Luca Giordano.
In a niche in the altar the splendid painting by El Greco, "The Expolio" or "The Disrobing of Christ" (1577-1579) presides over the room, whilst underneath, set in a retable by Ignacio Haan, we find a sculpture, also by El Greco, entitled "Saint Ildephonsus Receiving the Chasuble" (1587).
Next to it, as a homage, we can see an exceptional painting by Goya, "The Betrayal of Christ", which was commissioned by the Chapter in 1778.
On the side walls are exhibited the thirteen paintings of "The Apostles" by El Greco, one of the three sets that have been handed down to us complete today.
The following works by El Greco are also exhibited: "Saint Francis," "Saint Domingo de Guzmán," "The Tears of Saint Peter," "Christ on the Cross" and "Saint Joseph with the Child," a sketch of the painting that hangs in the Chapel of San José.
In addition to this magnificent collection of works by El Greco, the Sacristy currently houses the grand Cathedral Art Gallery, featuring works by Bellini, Caravaggio, Titian, Morales and Tristán, among others.
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Although it dates from the twelfth century, the church was rebuilt and expanded in the early fourteenth century by the great benefactor of the parish, Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo, Lord of Orgaz.
Inside the church, in a chapel that features direct access from the street, we come across a painting known as "The Burial of the Count of Orgaz", El Greco's masterpiece.
The painting was commissioned from the artist by the church's parish priest, Andrés Nuñez de Madrid, in 1586, for the funerary chapel of the noble benefactor.
This work describes, two and a half centuries later, the scene of the miracle that took place during the funeral rites for the Castilian noble, based on two clearly differentiated planes.
The lower plane describes the earthly events, featuring a superb gallery of portraits, whilst the upper plane depicts "heaven open in all glory" featuring a series of heavenly beings.
In the former we find a predominant use of detail and a considerable degree of care when it comes to capturing the psychological dimension of the characters portrayed. In the latter we can observe an incipient expressionism, one that announces the techniques employed by the painter during later periods in his career.
Although it dates from the twelfth century, the church was rebuilt and expanded in the early fourteenth century by the great benefactor of the parish, Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo, Lord of Orgaz.
Inside the church, in a chapel that features direct access from the street, we come across a painting known as "The Burial of the Count of Orgaz", El Greco's masterpiece.
The painting was commissioned from the artist by the church's parish priest, Andrés Nuñez de Madrid, in 1586, for the funerary chapel of the noble benefactor.
This work describes, two and a half centuries later, the scene of the miracle that took place during the funeral rites for the Castilian noble, based on two clearly differentiated planes.
The lower plane describes the earthly events, featuring a superb gallery of portraits, whilst the upper plane depicts "heaven open in all glory" featuring a series of heavenly beings.
In the former we find a predominant use of detail and a considerable degree of care when it comes to capturing the psychological dimension of the characters portrayed. In the latter we can observe an incipient expressionism, one that announces the techniques employed by the painter during later periods in his career.
El Greco 2014 wants to recover the spaces linked to the artist, which have been called the El Greco Venues. These locations preserve his works in the original contexts for which they were created.
The opening of these venues to the public will offer a new reading of the artist's work, enriched by his activities within fields such as architecture and sculpture, little-known aspects of El Greco's work that have been scarcely appreciated up until now.
The creation of these venues will provide an extraordinary boost for Toledo's historical and cultural heritage throughout the duration of the exhibition, expanding the city's range of attractions and constituting one of the main legacies of the centenary celebrations.