El Greco Museum, Toledo, Spain - SpottingHistory.com

The El Greco Museum celebrates the mannerist painter El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos, 1541–1614), who spent much of his life in Toledo, having been born in Fodele, Crete.

The museum opened in 1911 and is located in the Jewish Quarter of Toledo. It consists of two buildings, a 16th-century house with a courtyard and an early 20th century building forming the museum, together with a garden. The house recreates the home of El Greco, which no longer exists. The museum houses many artworks by El Greco, especially from his late period. There are also paintings by other 17th-century Spanish artists, as well as furniture from the period and pottery from Talavera de la Reina in the Province of Toledo.

References:

Wikipedia

Museums in Spain

User Reviews

Ralf Tenbrink (19 months ago)
Free to enter and worth a visit. Even if you not into old art it's a great historic building.

eagle mars (19 months ago)
Deception. You expect to visit the house of El Greco, but it is not. You expect to see El Greco's masterpieces and most of them are in Madrid or elsewhere. Bad for me, I should have done my homework in advance. Consider it just being a folklor museum with some paintings from various artists, including late El Greco's paintings.

john wilkes (20 months ago)
We were expecting to be somewhat underwhelmed, but found this to be a beautifully presented small museum built around some spectacular El Greco works, as well as some of his near contemporaries. The building itself proved interesting - it helped established the style for "boutique" artist venues. There was an informative video about his painting techniques that helped us look at the paintings in a new light.

Ivan Knezevic (21 months ago)
A nice little museum with a beautiful garden. Good for an hours's tour.

Magnus S (23 months ago)
Nice "little" museum, not so much artwork but some really nice pieces. My visit was ~45 minutes, and then I took my time at the paintings I liked. When I was there there there was no entrance fee, I could bring and use my camera (no flash) but I had to leave my backpack outside.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright oxfordblues84

Historic Site of the week

Luxembourg Palace

The famous Italian Medici family have given two queens to France: Catherine, the spouse of Henry II, and Marie, widow of Henry IV, who built the current Luxembourg palace. Maria di Medici had never been happy at the Louvre, still semi-medieval, where the fickle king, did not hesitate to receive his mistresses. The death of Henry IV, assassinated in 1610, left the way open for Marie's project. When she became regent, she was able to give special attention to the construction of an imposing modern residence that would be reminiscent of the Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens in Florence, where she grew up. The development of the 25-hectare park, which was to serve as a jewel-case for the palace, began immediately.

The architect, Salomon de Brosse, began the work in 1615. Only 16 years later was the palace was completed. Palace of Luxembourg affords a transition between the Renaissance and the Classical period.

In 1750, the Director of the King's Buildings installed in the wing the first public art-gallery in France, in which French and foreign canvases of the royal collections are shown. The Count of Provence and future Louis XVIII, who was living in Petit Luxembourg, had this gallery closed in 1780: leaving to emigrate, he fled from the palace in June 1791.

During the French Revolution the palace was first abandoned and then moved as a national prison. After that it was the seat of the French Directory, and in 1799, the home of the Sénat conservateur and the first residence of Napoleon Bonaparte, as First Consul of the French Republic. The old apartments of Maria di Medici were altered. The floor, which the 80 senators only occupied in 1804, was built in the middle of the present Conference Hall.

Beginning in 1835 the architect Alphonse de Gisors added a new garden wing parallel to the old corps de logis, replicating the look of the original 17th-century facade so precisely that it is difficult to distinguish at first glance the old from the new. The new senate chamber was located in what would have been the courtyard area in-between.

The new wing included a library (bibliothèque) with a cycle of paintings (1845–1847) by Eugène Delacroix. In the 1850s, at the request of Emperor Napoleon III, Gisors created the highly decorated Salle des Conférences, which influenced the nature of subsequent official interiors of the Second Empire, including those of the Palais Garnier.

During the German occupation of Paris (1940–1944), Hermann Göring took over the palace as the headquarters of the Luftwaffe in France, taking for himself a sumptuous suite of rooms to accommodate his visits to the French capital. Since 1958 the Luxembourg palace has been the seat of the French Senate of the Fifth Republic.

Do you know an ancient castle or magnificent church near you?

Why not share it with other people interested in history? You can add your own historic sites and attractions to SpottingHistory.com.

It's absolutely free, easy, and doesn't even need registration!

Upload data

Looks like you are a history fan!

Do you know an ancient castle or hidden ruins near you?

Why not share it with other people interested in history? You can add your own historic sites and attractions to SpottingHistory. It's absolutely free, easy, and you can do it even without registration (of course you an also create an free account)!

El Greco Museum

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Most beautiful castles in Lithuania

Cultural Landscape of Sintra, Portugal

The Beauty of Cinque Terre

Historic Site of the week

Luxembourg Palace

Looks like you are a history fan!

Do you know an ancient castle or hidden ruins near you?