Dives Toletana: Treasures of Toledo Cathedral from Medieval to El Greco
For the first time in Estonia, visitors can see original works by El Greco and rare art treasures from Toledo Cathedral – one of Spain’s most important places of worship.
Toledo Cathedral is opening its extraordinary treasure chamber, revealing a thousand years of art and devotion, from the Visigoths to the Spanish Golden Age. Its walls preserve layers of living heritage: the spiritual depth of the Visigoths, the refined geometry of Islamic art, the luminous heights of Gothic architecture, and the humanist renewal of the Renaissance.
Artworks displayed
Gallery
Toledo – a crossroads of cultures and religions
Toledo, the ancient capital of kingdoms, is home to the Primate Cathedral of Spain – Catedral Primada. The archdiocese’s roots reach back to the earliest dawn of Christianity. The city itself has long been a place of encounter and cultural exchange: for centuries, Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities lived side by side, weaving one of Europe’s richest cultural tapestries. Toledo Cathedral is the embodiment of its intertwined history and the meeting point of faith and power: a place where different religions, cultures and eras have left their marks. For over fifteen centuries, the ancient Mozarabic liturgy has resounded under the cathedral’s vaults, uniting history and sacred and earthly riches into a single whole: Dives Toletana.
A journey through the Middle Ages to El Greco
The exhibition Dives Toletana: Treasures of Toledo Cathedral from the Medieval to El Greco spans the 10th to 17th centuries. Each work reveals a different layer of Toledo’s spiritual and artistic past: from the Mozarabic liturgical book Liber Misticus to monumental tapestries and liturgical objects, including works created during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I and Ferdinand II.
For the first time in Estonia, the works of El Greco, one of Spain’s most extraordinary painters, will be presented to the public. His works are among the pinnacle of European art heritage and highlight the city’s central role in art history. El Greco transformed Toledo into a symbol of light and spirit, a place where heaven and earth meet.
The exhibition is being held in collaboration with Toledo Cathedral, the Santa Cruz Museum, and the Church of St Nicholas of Bari in Toledo, and marks the upcoming 800th anniversary of the cathedral.
Team
Curators: Merike Kurisoo, Carlos Alonso Pérez-Fajardo
Coordinator: Annika Teras
Exhibition design: Kaarel Eelma
Graphic design: Tuuli Aule
Intermediary for Spanish Institutions: Carlos Alonso Pérez-Fajardo
Registrar: Helen Volber
Installation managers: Andres Amos, Tõnis Medri, Villu Plink
Exhibition team: Laura Tahk, Richard Adang, Piret Järvan, Hedi Kard, Keidi Kaitsa-Pihlamägi, Marju Kubre, Kärt Lend, Tõnis Medri, Agathe Peri, Kaisa-Piia Pedajas, Kadi Raudalainen, Kristjan Roos, Kaidi Saavan, Tarmo Saaret, Mati Schönberg, Marii Tunnel
In collaboration: Toledo Cathedral, the Santa Cruz Museum, and the Church of St Nicholas of Bari in Toledo
