In this artwork, how is the Background of the Description elucidated?
El Greco places the classical subject against a gloomy view of Toledo. El Greco's use of Toledo as the backdrop for his depiction of Laocoön's death may be based on local folklore that the people of Toledo descended from the Trojans. In the painting, the Trojan horse moves towards the city, a reminder of Laocoön's failed attempt to convince his countrymen of the trap. El Greco portrays the city Toledo as a world of suffering, using color to create a sense of doom. The high horizon line and the standing figures at the ends of the painting create a vertical composition. Dominated by turbulent shades of grey and swirling clouds, the threatening sky looms over Toledo and creates an eerie background that adds to the suffering of the foreground.
El Greco Trojan horse Laocoön