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Wikimedia Commons · CC0 · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileThis scene captures a moment of divine intervention within the Temple, where a celestial rider on a white horse and two charging youths punish Heliodorus for his sacrilege. To the left, Pope Julius II is portrayed as a contemporary witness to the biblical event, carried on a sedia gestatoria. The composition uses dramatic movement and deep architectural perspective to emphasize the power of the divine act.
As part of the Vatican Stanze, this work reflects the High Renaissance synthesis of biblical history and contemporary papal authority. The depiction of the High Priest Onias and the Temple of Jerusalem connects to Renaissance interests in the continuity of sacred tradition and the protection of religious mysteries from the profane.
RAPHAEL SANTIVS PINX IN AEDIBVS VATICA NIS
Translation
Raphael Sanzio painted [this] In the buildings of the Vatican
2 Maccabees
The biblical text (Chapter 3) which provides the primary narrative source for this scene.
Object
Fresco
religious
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · CC0
http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.615551
3952 × 2902 px
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 2, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.