University of Toledo - Blockhouse Yearbook (Toledo, OH)

Page 24 text:

Art Museum, Toledo, Ohio House of El Greco N the XVI century there still existed some remains of the palace which the people called the Princi- pal Houses of the Marquis of Villenaf, This palace was reconstructed and enriched with remains of other constructions in Toledo and masterpieces of art. About the year 1585, the principal apartments of this palace were occupied by the famous painter, El Greco, and since then it is known as El Greco's House. lt was there where El Greco painted his marvelous pictures, among them the immortal and internaf tionally known The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. And in this palace, on April 7, 1614, the great painter died. The lower garden is beautiful and strange, without comparison to any other gardens that you may have seen. What intriguing stories and fan' tastic legends cluster around this spot. Then there come the upper gardens, the walls covered with ivy, masses of blossoms and the remf nants of the splendid decorations of old buildings which the weight of years and men's neglect have brought to the ground. One cannot help but look inquisitively at these few relics of the past, striving to read the secrets which they hide, and to recall the legends of which they were the scene. Today, each apartment of this palace is a miniature museum filled with antique furniture, carvings and paintings, by no others than El Greco, Valdes Leal, Garreno, Mazo, Errera the Elder and Murillo. In addition to the El Greco House there are several other important museums in Toledo, among them the unique one in the Hospital of San juan Bautista. This is a complete museum of pharmacy of the XVI century. There are, among other curiosf ities, pieces of white coral which in that epoch were used to cure stomach illnesses. ln the summer of 1922, two residents of Toledo, Ohio, were motoring through Spain. In love with Spanish architecture and expecting to build a house on their return, they found every tilefroofed and rambling farmhouse full of suggestions. But when in Toledo, Spain, they entered the House of El Greco, they turned to each other, and said in the same breath, This is the one! So it came about that the

Page 23 text:

line should yield. This gate, which today can be appreciated in all its beauty, is a monument which shows the Arabic tenta- tive to reach the complete artistic domina- tion peculiar to them. Its walls, loopholes and balconies are more properly those ofa palace than of a fortress. The Bisagra Gate, another marvel ofart, is believed to have remained intact since the period of the Musulmans. The other gates giving access to the city rank equally high from the standpoint of art and architecture. L-.. llisagrfi Gate, 'l'nletlu, Spain It is within these gates, which are truly fortresses, where one finds the narrow streets and gloomy houses, a great conglomeration in which the high walls ofthe palaces and the towers of the mosques stand out. Puerta del Sol Cate Toledo. Spain

Page 25 text:

- . 4 An, . V . 75:14 - ill W ' ' X V , .f ,fn . ff. , vs s ff R Us 5,6 Pip vk,A l'lvlvcv- Muwuni. House of El Greco, Toledo. Spain l,num Ilome ol Mme. Riviera. lformerly Mrs. George W. Stevens' Toledo, Ohio home of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Stevens was built as we see it in the accompanying picture, a bit of Old Toledo on the banks ofthe Maumee River. One enters by way of an iron grill gate all green and crumbling with age to find on every hand Old World beautyg and one carries away a memory of ancient polychromed doors, of the great carved walnut fireplace with its heraldic tapestry, and of fine old Spanish furniture seen by the light of the tapers in a great cathedral candelabra.