The Toledo Cathedral was built in the 13th century and contains several beautifully decorated chapels, including the Ochavo and San Blás chapels. The Ochavo, or Octagonal Chapel, is a High Renaissance reliquary room in Toledo Cathedral completed in the 1620s. (...)
The Toledo Cathedral was built in the 13th century and contains several beautifully decorated chapels, including the Ochavo and San Blás chapels. The Ochavo, or Octagonal Chapel, is a High Renaissance reliquary room in Toledo Cathedral completed in the 1620s. El Greco’s son, Jorge Manuel Theotocopoulos, a successful architect in Toledo, designed the structure and also painted the frescoes on the ceiling. Although the chapel remained fairly structurally sound over the years, when the cathedral decided to use the space as an addition to its museum, it had to be restored. Flaws in the roof, in addition to deterioration simply due to poor maintenance and neglect, had to be addressed.
The San Blás Chapel is decorated with murals attributed to Gerardo Starnina, a Florentine painter who lived in Spain in the 14th century and was a follower of Giotto. Water infiltration and salt crystallization caused the chapel to deteriorate, and it was closed to the public in the 19th century. The murals, walls, doors, and windows were in need of conservation and the chapel required a waterproofing and drainage system.
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