''The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple'' is a fresco of the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

painter

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

. It was painted between 1511 and 1512 as part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the

Apostolic Palace The Apostolic Palace ( la, Palatium Apostolicum; it, Palazzo Apostolico) is the official residence of the pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and t ...

in the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

. It is located in the room that takes its name from it, the ''Stanza di Eliodoro''. ''The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple'' illustrates the biblical episode from

2 Maccabees 2 Maccabees, el, Μακκαβαίων Β´, translit=Makkabaíōn 2 also known as the Second Book of Maccabees, Second Maccabees, and abbreviated as 2 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which recounts the persecution of Jews under King Antiochus I ...

(3:21-28).

Heliodorus Heliodorus is a Greek name meaning "Gift of the Sun". Several persons named Heliodorus are known to us from ancient times, the best known of which are: *Heliodorus (minister) a minister of Seleucus IV Philopator c. 175 BC * Heliodorus of Athen ...

is ordered by

Seleucus IV Philopator Seleucus IV Philopator (Greek: Σέλευκος Φιλοπάτωρ; c. 218 – 3 September 175 BC), ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, reigned from 187 BC to 175 BC over a realm consisting of Syria (now including Cilicia and Judea), Mesop ...

, the king of Syria, to seize the treasure preserved in the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jeru ...

. Answering the prayers of the high priest

Onias III Onias III ( he, חוֹנִיּוֹ ''Ḥōnīyyō''), son of Simon II, was Jewish High Priest during the Second Temple period. He is described in scriptures as a pious man who opposed the Hellenization of Judea. He was succeeded by his brother Ja ...

, God sends a horseman assisted by two youths to drive Heliodorus out. At the left, Raphael's patron

Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or the ...

witnesses the scene from his

litter Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. Litter can also be used as a verb; to litter means to drop and leave objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups ...

. The money had been reserved for widows and orphans and a priest had seen and prayed and God sent down a horseman to drive him from the temple. The composition is divided into two halves, in the centre is the priest praying and the priest looks much like Julius II. On the right is the horseman fighting Heliodorus. The menorah by the priest in the centre shows that this event, from the Old Testament, occurs in a synagogue. On the left are widows and orphans grouped together and Julius II is being carried on a throne, witnessing this event. While one message of the event is God will not allow you to “steal from the church”, the painting is located in the same stanza as

The Mass at Bolsena ''The Mass at Bolsena'' is a painting by the Italian renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1512 and 1514 as part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Raphael Rooms, in the Apostolic P ...

. Together the events seem to underscore the Counter-Reformation efforts to underscore the sacredness of the services, including sacraments, occurring inside church buildings. The architecture begs comparison with Raphael's earlier fresco masterwork ''

The School of Athens ''The School of Athens'' ( it, Scuola di Atene) is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. The fresco was painted between 1509 and 1511 as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms now known as the , in the Apostolic Pa ...

'' (1509-1511), although the Domes in “The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple” are much richer and are gilded and highly decorated. The work contains a self-portrait by Raphael, near the far left. In 1725 the baroque Italian painter Francesco Solimena and 1850 the French romantic artist

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

each created a work based on the same story.

Gallery

File:Cacciata di eliodoro dal tempio 03.jpg Image:Raffael 094.jpg Image:Raffael 095.jpg

References

External links

* Raphael rooms 1512 paintings Paintings depicting people in the deuterocanonical books Horses in art Nude art {{16C-painting-stub

Gallery

See also

References

External links