Who painted Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple?

El Greco painted Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple in 1568.

What Bible passage does Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple depict?

Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple depicts the biblical scene from John 2:13-22.

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Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple

Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple by El Greco

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El Greco's "Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple" (1568) depicts the dramatic moment from John 2:13-22 when Jesus forcefully expels the merchants and money changers who had turned the sacred temple into a marketplace. Now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., this painting is considered by several scholars to be the masterpiece of El Greco's Venetian period.

Despite containing some Cretan elements acquired during his early formal training, this work is fully considered a painting of the Italian Renaissance. The composition demonstrates varied influences, from Tintoretto to Michelangelo and Raphael, as well as Paolo Veronese and other painters of the Cinquecento Venetian school. The handling of anatomy, the bold application of color, and the drama of the scene all reflect El Greco's immersion in the Venetian artistic tradition during this formative period of his career.

There exist three other versions of this subject by El Greco, along with a faithful reproduction in the National Gallery in London that has recently been considered authentic by scholars. Two versions and one on loan from Madrid are titled "Purification of the Temple," while the Washington version is called "Christ Cleansing the Temple." A somewhat different version belongs to the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Together these works demonstrate El Greco's sustained engagement with this powerful biblical narrative throughout his career.

Details

Artist: El Greco
Created: 1568
Medium: oil on panel
Dimension: 83cm × 65cm
Passage: John 2:13-22

Found in: John, John 2, 16th century

John 2:13-22

13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

14 He found in the temple those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting.

15 He made a whip of cords, and threw all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew their tables.

16 To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!”

17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will eat me up.”

18 The Jews therefore answered him, “What sign do you show us, seeing that you do these things?”

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

20 The Jews therefore said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple! Will you raise it up in three days?”

21 But he spoke of the temple of his body.

22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this, and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

John 2:13-22 · World English Bible

The artist

El Greco

1541 - 1614

Fodele, Crete

Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos, whose Greek name is Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος (IPA: [ðoˈminikos θeotoˈkopulos]), lived from October 1, 1541, to April 7, 1614. He is most famously known as El Greco, which translates to "The Greek" in Spanish. This nickname, given in Spanish, was used colloquially, but the artist typically signed his paintings using his full birth name in Greek characters, often including the term Κρής (Krḗs), signifying "Cretan."