News From Madrid - Toledo Edition!
Holy Toledo!
Inside Sinagoga de Santa Maria de la Blanca
Toledo used to be known as a spiritual Mecca, or “the Jerusalem of the West.” It is one of the central places to experience the remnants of Al-Andalus, the time of Islamic rule over Spain. This era is renowned for the Convivencia, or Las Tres Culturas, when the three Abrahamic religions—Christianity, Islam, and Judaism—lived and thrived together, sharing knowledge. It was also called the Golden Age of Sephardim, a period when revelations in mathematics, poetry, and art flourished.
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Well, hello there, Toledo.
Overall, I was blown away by the beauty and preservation of medieval Toledo. It is a sort of magical place with breathtaking vistas around almost every corner. The city, with its rich history and cultural convergence of Christian, Islamic, and Jewish influences, felt like stepping into a living, breathing museum. Its enclosing walls and magnificent puertas, each uniquely different, were stunning to behold.
However, this city is also beautifully disorienting at the same time. Walking around the crooked streets with high walls was dizzying and overwhelming at times, mirroring the overwhelming amount of information I was taking in about my own culture and identity.
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Mudéjar Art Everywhere!
During my visit, I was particularly focused on the Mudéjar art. This Islamic-influenced style remains from the period of Al-Andalus. I first fell in love with the ornate geometric patterns when I visited Granada last year. The Mudéjar designs are significant because they represent the time of the Convivencia and often are chock-full of sacred geometric forms.
The Mudéjar style is everywhere you look in Toledo, but I was especially taken with the Sinagoga del Tránsito, the Sinagoga de Santa María la Blanca, the Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz, and Taller del Moro. The intricate design work in these spaces struck me deeply. I was moved by the spiritual nature of the forms, but also couldn’t escape the complexity of my situation.
Part of a wall in the Sinagoga del Transito. (More photos below.)
Being a Jew Ain’t Easy
Being Jewish is a complex and often challenging experience. It’s a strange thing to be ancestrally tied to a group of people who have been historically misunderstood, displaced, persecuted, and killed.
I expected to feel a spiritual sense of peace being in a land that was once a spiritual mecca for the West, but at times, the reminders of past conflicts and transformations made me feel more unease. Although the buildings in Toledo are monuments to the Golden Age of Sephardi, they felt twisted up in the history of the Inquisition.
Knowing that Jews were expelled from here and reflecting on the complex relationship between Jews and Spain in modern times made me more aware of the subtle cultural and religious boundaries I constantly navigate as a Jew. I grapple with my own misgivings about religion while feeling a strong spiritual connection to ancient mysticism. I am spiritual but not religious. I am Jewish but brought up in a Christian society that is mostly ignorant and skeptical of Jews. This is all inside of me and felt twisted everywhere in Toledo too.
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Moving Forward with New Inspiration
I am watching where this journey is taking me. I feel like this is the beginning of a new body of work, and it's in its infancy. Now that I'm back in my studio in Madrid, I’ve been playing with creating shapes and forms based on sacred geometry. The straightfoward reason of these shapes grounds me while my paintings are still being born. It’s hard to not try to figure out what the art I’m making will be, but I keep reminding myself that I won’t know that until I have made it.
Photos from the Sinagoga Del Transito
Photos from the Sinagoga De Santa Maria La Blanca
Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz
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(Shout Out To Ramón)
On my second evening, I spent time with Ramón, the owner of a taberna that serves mostly locals. From them, I learned more about what it's like to live in Toledo. Ramon, especially, had a lot of good stories to share. The place was so chill. He would serve people and then come back and sit at the table with me to read his paper. These sorts of experiences are what I love about Spain.
