El Greco: View Of Toledo

Those uneasy, ominous moments before the storm: El Greco seems to have captured the visual metaphor perfectly in this View of Toledo. Although it hangs unobtrusively among myriad other paintings in the Metropolitan, Toledo rarely fails to elicit interest from the passing crowds. To arouse such attention, without the obvious gimmicks of sex and "shock-value," is a rare feat in our age of information deluge. In a sense, that in itself speaks to the effectiveness of the image. A simple glance already suggests that something disturbing, if not terrifying, is at work. As it excites our imagination, it compels us to thought ... and action. Metaphorically: We pull out that umbrella, or — more commonly -- seek shelter ... or perhaps even write an essay. As with any masterpiece, an extended look at Toledo brings out a deeper and more complex picture. By virtue of color and texture, El Greco establishes the distinction between earth and sky. By itself, this is not much of an innovation, but what is more important, this spatial separation parallels a temporal one between present and future, respectively. As a snapshot of the present, the city and countryside seems calm while the clouds above loom tumultuously in the future. From this emerges a certain ambiguity, as the tranquility of the pastoral scene dispels some of our instinctive terror. And from behind the clouds stretch the rays of a brilliant sun that points to hope rather than despair for the future. Furthermore — and this can only really be seen at the gallery — the sense of hope or despair seems to depend upon the distance from which one views the painting. Seen up-close, the sense of impending cataclysm becomes especially acute; the lush green turns goulishly dull, the city and countryside lie eeriely unpopulated...until we note the miniaturized people along the river's edge and up the road. The image of a frail and vulnerable humanity is inescapable. However, as one moves back from the painting, the sky seems to the brighten rather than threaten, the landscape below. Through this ambiguity, El Greco's painting becomes even more seductive and frightening. Like a Hitchcock film, not seeing the dreadful deed only adds to the horror. Given the ambiguity of form, is there an ambiguity of content as well? With El Greco's religious mysticism and the implicit ethos of the contemporaneous Counter-Reformation, perhaps the painting represents a juxtaposed allegory of the "Coming Armageddon" with the "Second Coming." I think that there is also a secular meaning to Toledo insofar as it metaphorically anticipates the demise of the Spanish Empire.

El Greco: View of Toledo

Whether or not this speculation is true, the painting nevertheless serves as an abstraction for what was and was to become of the Hapsburg Spain. While El Greco painted his Toledo in 1597, Spain was in possession of vast territorial, military and material power. Its territories included most of South America, the Iberian peninsula, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands.Militarily unmatched and with unlimited resources of American silver Spain seemed comfortably secure. Or so the rosy picture seemed. By 1598, the Peace of Vervins permanently ended all Spanish incursions into France. The foolish Armada disaster and other such failures lead to a compromise peace with England in 1604 and the loss of the Netherlands by 1648. Even Iberian unity became untenable with the independence of Portugal in 1668. Though these are the politico-military highlights of the Empire's demise, they simply landmark the continuous economic decline that constituted its true cause. Events were not completely beyond the control of Spain's leaders. It could even be said that they did everything in their power to facilitate and accelerate the decline. Considering the rapid changes and challenges of the time, Philip II certainly had his litany of "Action Plans." A "Moral Majority," and the "New World Order" sparked the zealous Counter-Reformation and various Wars — small and large — which detracted attention and resources from the true problems, both national and international. Massive deficit financing for all these efforts diverted investment from industry and commerce, which suffered anyway from a lack of skilled craftsmen. "Spain First" policies found their expression through the expulsion of the Jews and a general cut-off of contacts with foreign universities. Perhaps El Greco saw none of this in 1597; perhaps the future was completely clear to him. Again, the View of Toledo — perhaps more appropriately titled View from Toledo — is ambiguous ... or is it? In the midst of a storm, it's natural to seek shelter — in this context, the themes of isolationism, racism, protectionism, and nationalism are neither ambiguous nor surprising. However, when lightning hits the tree that seemingly protects, what then? Ogan Gurel 14 January 1992