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WORLD HERITAGE SITE
BY ROBERT HAYWOOD
Follow the artists. This is what we did on a recent trip to Spain when we found ourselves entering the Church of Santo Tome in Toledo. Built in the 12th century but entirely rebuilt in the 14th, the church is famous for housing artist El Greco’s The Burial of Count of Orgaz, a fifteen-foot-high mural painted over two years, from 1586-1588.
Every country has a select group of artists and architects who create works of such significance that, over time, they start to elucidate the character of the nation itself. Just by knowing and tracking down a country’s greatest artists and architects, you will end up seeing many of its primary cultural landmarks.
Born Doménikos Theotokópoulos, this Greek artist was called El Greco (“The Greek”) in Spain, where he spent most of his mature life, eventually making Toledo his home.
In 1586, El Greco was contracted by the Church of Santo Tome to create an oil painting to commemorate the miraculous burial of Spanish aristocrat Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo, the Count of Orgaz. (Orgaz was given the title of ‘Count’ after his death.) As a reward for the Count’s good deeds—including the generous sum he donated to the Church—St. Stephen and St. Augustine descended from heaven to lower the Count into his tomb.
When viewing a painting, two things must be addressed simultaneously—the subject or content of the painting and the manner and technique in which it is painted. When these two features reveal the highest level of skill and invention, including breaking from and even shattering previous norms of painting, such a rare work of art stands a chance of making a mark in history.
This is surely the case of El Greco’s The Burial of Count of Orgaz. The burial scene represents the earthly realm, with the heavenly realm depicted in the upper half of the painting. The painting is replete with detailed historical religious figures and events, as well as contemporary figures of the era.
El Greco approaches the painting as a mode of storytelling with all the characters of the miracle and burial in place, notably, the two saints elaborately garbed in gold in the foreground. Most of the men—monks, clergy, and men of the city—face the viewer, with the church’s treasurer turning away from us toward the densely packed crowd. The artist includes himself in the painting, as well as his son, who, dressed in black, stands in the foreground and points and directs our eyes toward Orgaz in the center.
El Greco’s distinct painting style is most immediately recognizable by his moody brushwork and colors, as well as his expressive, elongated figures. Note the men’s long, pointy fingers.
Seeing El Greco’s impressive mural is a reason alone to visit Toledo. There is much more to discover about this city, with its cobblestone streets on the banks of the Tagus River. Known as the “City of Three Cultures” for its Christian, Muslim, and Jewish influences, UNESCO named Toledo a World Heritage Site in 1986 for its historical and topographical importance.
To learn more about El Greco, see El Greco: Ambition and Defiance (Art Institute of Chicago, 2020)
Robert Haywood has a Ph.D. in the history of art and architecture.
©Annapolis Home Magazine
Vol. 15, No. 3 2024