View of Toledo

In the pictureDark blue-black storm clouds cover the sky, and below them the walls, spires and bridge of a hilltop city stand out in pale light. The hills are a flickering mix of green and gray, and a river flows below. The arrangement of the city's buildings differs from the real Toledo. The cathedral is not where it should be.

BackgroundThis landscape was painted around 1599–1600 by El Greco, a Greek-born painter who settled in Toledo. It is considered the first work in Spanish painting to depict landscape alone, without figures. Rather than copying the actual terrain, he rearranged the city at will, turning it into something like a vision in a storm. Twentieth-century Expressionist painters regarded this sky as their ancestor.

Puzzle tipFirst divide it into sky (blue-black and white cloud) and land (green and gray). Join the pieces with distinct forms, such as the city's buildings, bridge and walls, first to make the horizon, then fill in the sky by the light and dark parts of the clouds and the hills by the shades of green. It is hard, but the brushwork is rough, so when zoomed in each piece shows its own texture.