View of Toledo by El Greco Ceramic Tree Decoration

View of Toledo by El Greco, c. 1596, is an oil on canvas landscape painting of the city, hills and countryside of Toledo, Spain. The swirling, expressive composition leads the eye over the foreground landscape elements to the spires and buildings of Toledo set against a darkened, eerie sky punctuated by accented white clouds. The View of Toledo is one of the best known images in Western art and one of the most famous paintings by El Greco. Domenikos Theotokopoulos (1541 - 1614) was born on the island of Crete where he apprenticed as a painter of religious icons in the Byzantine tradition. As a young man he studied in Venice under Titian and the painters of the Venetian Renaissance and became known by the moniker El Greco, "The Greek". El Greco permanently settled in Toledo, Spain, where he produced most of his famous paintings and worked also as a sculptor and architect. El Greco's unique manner defies classification, incorporating elements of the Italian and Spanish Renaissance, Byzantine art, Mannerism, and Expressionism. El Greco remained somewhat obscure until the 19th and 20th centuries, when his paintings profoundly influenced the rising modern artists.