Not far from Madrid, the capital of Spain, a museum has been opened in the city of Toledo, where the works of Domenicos Theotokopoulos, the artist known worldwide as El Greco, famous for his unusual way of painting, which is still today, are presented. study. He was born on the island of Crete, but created most of the paintings in Toledo. In 1900 a museum dedicated to him was opened and lovers of beauty could see not only the works of the great artist, but also how he lived.
El Greco had no followers, so for almost 3 centuries since his death his works were forgotten. Only after so long his unique genius was rediscovered by beauty lovers. And he was able to take his rightful place among the greatest representatives of the western schools of painting.
The El Greco Museum was erected in the Jewish quarter of Toledo on the foundations of a house built in the 6th century, which already stood as a Renaissance-style medieval palace, located very close to where the artist lived. The royal house, where he created his works, was destroyed by a strong fire.
The modern museum building appeared at the beginning of the 20th century on the initiative of the Marquis Vega de Inclán, one of the first supporters of the return of the paintings and the name of El Greco in a pleiad of famous Spanish painters. It was sponsored by the Madrid Museum of Romanticism and the Cervantes House Museum in Valladolid.
The El Greco Museum was opened in 1900. On April 27, 1910, its Board of Trustees, which mainly brought together eminent personalities of its time, collected all the donations necessary to carry out the restoration work to prepare the building for house another part of the art and furniture collection. On June 12, 1911, the renovated building reopened to the public.
The main thing for the creators of the museum was the desire to demonstrate the artistic value of El Greco's works until many of them were destroyed and sold to foreign museums, which showed great interest in his art.
In 1921, the building underwent its first renovations. Then, in 1950, 1960 and until the 90s, it was decided to develop the final internal and external structure of the museum. But this did not help, and the museum was closed for renovation between 2006 and March 2011, and his most important works were exhibited in different Spanish cities. The paintings "Mirada" and "Plan Toledo" remained stored in the Prado Museum in Madrid due to their fragility until the Museo del Greco de Toledo reopened its doors on March 24, 2011.
The renovated museum building has been made more accessible to visitors, and the works of his student El Greco Louis Tristan hold a special place in the collection.
The museum complex consists of two buildings: a house built in the 16th century and a building erected in the early 20th century that expanded the main building. Inside you can see valuable works by El Greco, especially those belonging to the last period of his work, as well as paintings by other Spanish artists from the 17th century, furniture from that time and a collection of ceramics from Talavera de la Reyna.
Address: Paseo Tránsito, s / n, 45002 Toledo, Spain
Telephone: +34 925 99 09 82
