El Greco shows Toledo from the north, but includes only the easternmost portion. This partial view would have excluded the cathedral, which he therefore imaginatively moved to the left of the dominant Alcázar (royal palace). A string of buildings descends a steep hill to the Roman Alcántara bridge, while on the other side of the Tagus is shown the Castle of San Servando. Another cluster of buildings is shown on a cloud-like form below the castle. The painting belongs to the tradition of emblematic city views. As with El Greco's finest portraits, its approach is interpretive rather than documentary: it seeks to portray the essence of the city rather than to document its actual appearance. In Aristotelean terms, it substitutes poetic for historic truth. The picture was in El Greco's studio at his death and was later purchased by Pedro Laso de la Vega, the Conde de Arcos—a major collector who owned at least seven paintings by El Greco (possibly including the Museum's "Portrait of a Cardinal").