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About This Work
A group of Nine Apostles gathers on the left, gesturing with confusion and pointing towards a scene of distress on the right. A young boy in the throes of a convulsion is held by his father while a kneeling woman in the foreground directs the viewer's attention to the child's suffering. The dramatic use of light and shadow emphasizes the chaotic emotional state of the figures in this earthly realm.
This work embodies the High Renaissance Neoplatonic contrast between the chaotic material world and the divine spiritual realm. It illustrates the human soul's dependency on divine light (represented by the Transfigured Christ in the missing upper half) to overcome the darkness of physical and spiritual affliction.