Isabel de Oballe, the wife of a wealthy Toledan merchant, bequeathed funds for the foundation of a chapel in the parish church of San Vicente, Toledo, in her will of 1557, drawn up in Lima, Peru. Work on the chapel began in 1597, to the designs of the architect Juan Bautista de Monegro, and in 1606 the town council of Toledo, to whom the patronage of the chapel had passed, awarded the contract for the decoration to Alessandro Semini, a Genoese painter working in the city. Semini, however, died in 1607, having made a start only on some frescoes, and El Greco moved swiftly to take over the project, introducing some alternative proposals that included making the altarpiece taller, replacing the frescoed decoration with oil paintings on canvas, and placing a framed scene of The Visitation on the ceiling. Agreement was reached on 11 December 1607, and the painter was required to finish the work within eight months, presumably in time for the feast of the Assumption on 15 August 1608.

On 13 August 1608, the painter declared in a petition to the council that the painting was well advanced, but it was clearly not finished. On 17 April 1613 he stated that the whole commission was completed and he requested a valuation, but only in March 1615, after his death, was his son Jorge Manuel able to declare that 'the altarpiece and the rest of the work of the Chapel of Isabel de Oballe which my father was contracted to do is finished and the said altar in place'

The centrepiece of the scheme, over the altar, was The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception in addition to The Visitation, the programme may have included the paintings of Saint Peter and Saint Ildefonso.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 22 minutes): Heinrich Schütz: Magnificat

Preview	Picture Data	File Info	Comment
	The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception 1608-13 Oil on canvas, 348 x 174,5 cm Museo de Santa Cruz, Toledo	700*1376 True Color 181 Kb
	The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception (detail) 1608-13 Oil on canvas Museo de Santa Cruz, Toledo	900*1140 True Color 190 Kb
	The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception (detail) 1608-13 Oil on canvas Museo de Santa Cruz, Toledo	900*1214 True Color 164 Kb
	The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception (detail) 1608-13 Oil on canvas Museo de Santa Cruz, Toledo	956*579 True Color 111 Kb
	Saint Peter 1610-13 Oil on canvas, 209 x 106 cm Monasterio de San Lorenzo, El Escorial	750*1463 True Color 140 Kb
	St Ildefonso 1610-13 Oil on canvas, 219 x 105 cm Monasterio de San Lorenzo, El Escorial	700*1479 True Color 162 Kb
	The Visitation 1610-13 Oil on canvas, 96 x 72,4 cm Dumbarton Oaks, Washington	870*1176 True Color 187 Kb