Britannica
Sources used in this answer
Why did El Greco rearrange buildings in View and Plan of Toledo?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
El Greco
Burial of the Count de Orgaz, oil on canvas by El Greco, 1586–88; in the church of Santo Tomé, Toledo, Spain.
In his painting View and Plan of Toledo, El Greco rearranged the buildings to suit his specific compositional purposes.1
The artist provided a fanciful explanation for these adjustments directly on the canvas. He noted that he placed the Hospital of San Juan Bautista on a cloud in the foreground specifically so that it could be seen more clearly by the viewer.1