Museo de Santa Cruz
If you want to get close to masterpieces by El Greco, make this museum your first stop. The museum is the repository for dozens of 16th- and 17th-century paintings that once decorated Toledo-area churches and convents. About a dozen of them are by El Greco, and the greatest of the lot is La Asunción de la Virgen (Assumption of the Virgin), painted 1607–13. If you stand about 18 inches from this late masterpiece, you can see how the paint flows like tiny rivers. You don’t have to be religious—or even an art fan—to appreciate the electric excitement in this progenitor of “action painting.” We also must say that the the fine art section is particularly informative, as it is laid out chronologically, with information panels in Spanish and English explaining the historical context of the works.
This massive former hospital is an early architectural design by Alonso de Covarrubias. The front portal is a Plateresque marvel; inside, its cross-shaped galleries have intricate coffered ceilings in Mudéjar and Renaissance style; the staircase is laugh-out-loud ornate. The building was commissioned by Cardinal Mendoza, whom some historians credit (or blame) as the mastermind behind the political machinations of Fernando and Isabel.
The museum is divided into three sections, with the ground level devoted to archaeological fragments from Roman, Visigoth, and Muslim periods in Toledo. Another portion of the museum is devoted to popular culture and traditional local crafts including ceramics, glass, and jewelry. The Carranza collection of ceramics of the Iberian peninsula is a thorough but not overwhelming survey of colorful Spanish and Portuguese tile work from the re-conquest of Valencia in 1238 through the 19th century.
If you want to get close to masterpieces by El Greco, make this museum your first stop. The museum is the repository for dozens of 16th- and 17th-century paintings that once decorated Toledo-area churches and convents. About a dozen of them are by El Greco, and the greatest of the lot is La Asunción de la Virgen (Assumption of the Virgin), painted 1607–13. If you stand about 18 inches from this late masterpiece, you can see how the paint flows like tiny rivers. You don’t have to be religious—or even an art fan—to appreciate the electric excitement in this progenitor of “action painting.” We also must say that the the fine art section is particularly informative, as it is laid out chronologically, with information panels in Spanish and English explaining the historical context of the works.
This massive former hospital is an early architectural design by Alonso de Covarrubias. The front portal is a Plateresque marvel; inside, its cross-shaped galleries have intricate coffered ceilings in Mudéjar and Renaissance style; the staircase is laugh-out-loud ornate. The building was commissioned by Cardinal Mendoza, whom some historians credit (or blame) as the mastermind behind the political machinations of Fernando and Isabel.
The museum is divided into three sections, with the ground level devoted to archaeological fragments from Roman, Visigoth, and Muslim periods in Toledo. Another portion of the museum is devoted to popular culture and traditional local crafts including ceramics, glass, and jewelry. The Carranza collection of ceramics of the Iberian peninsula is a thorough but not overwhelming survey of colorful Spanish and Portuguese tile work from the re-conquest of Valencia in 1238 through the 19th century.
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