Toledo: The City of El Greco
El Greco lived half of his life in Toledo, this being the most fruitful period in his career. The city's cosmopolitan character, the existence of a strong civil society and a rich cultural life, together with the international vocation of the governing classes and the commencement of grand building projects designed to modernize the city, no doubt played a part in determining the artist's choice to live there.
In this respect, we must bear in mind the fact that Toledo had previously been an important Medieval city and the cradle of Spanish humanism thanks to its secular multiculturalism. As such, it had served as an internationally renowned cultural and symbolic point of reference, given that the city was also the seat of the head of the Spanish Church, in recognition of its past as the capital of the Visigoth Kingdom. The city's governing classes also became the leaders of the kingdom and the fashions that reigned supreme in Toledo became representative examples of one of the most universal cultures we have ever known.
This was the ambience that El Greco found upon his arrival in 1577. Years later, the definitive exit of the Royal Court marked the beginning of Toledo's gradual decline and its ultimate decadence. Toledo's leaders reacted by promoting the civic pride of the city's inhabitants, an initiative in which our artist played an active part. Thanks to this, Toledo became the imperial city that enjoyed the monarchy's favor, the city of God blessed with the protection of the saints, as depicted by El Greco in his paintings.
A consequence of these changes was the gradual decline of the city's leading cultural role, something that was already evident upon the death of our genial artist. The situation worsened still further throughout the course of the seventeenth century, although one positive outcome consisted of the survival of one of the most outstanding historic cities in Europe, both due to the exceptional state of preservation of its monumental buildings and landscapes and the quality and significance of many of its sights, which have become universal symbols of Spanish culture.