El Greco's Christ Driving the Traders from the Temple (ca. 1600)

   Consider one of El Greco’s several depictions of Christ Driving the Traders from the Temple, completed around 1600, at a time when Catholic art was responding to the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation.  Jesus is clearly at the center of the painting, the only figure in red, wreaking havoc in the controlled environment of the temple money-changers.  But there’s so much more to see: 

·           * Can you identify the traders and money-changers? 

·           * Can you identify the apostles? 

·           * Look at the two bas-reliefs in the background.  What do they depict, and why has El Greco chosen to include them in this painting? 

·           * What elements of the story has El Greco chosen not to represent explicitly? 

·           * How is the space lit?  What effect does such lighting create? 

If you are intrigued by these questions, click here for Art Encyclopedia’s answers to all of the above!  (You can see a larger version of the painting by clicking on the image above, or on the link below.)

Image source:  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/El_Greco_016.jpg
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