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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileThis monochromatic composition depicts the moment Christ is transformed into divine light, his figure radiating a brilliant sun-like halo. Below him, three disciples shield their eyes and gesture in awe, while the upper register shows God the Father emerging from a celestial host of angels and cherubim. The work uses dramatic highlights to emphasize the central figure as a bridge between the terrestrial and the divine.
The Transfiguration was a central theme for Renaissance Neoplatonists like Marsilio Ficino, who interpreted the event as an archetype for the soul's 'deification' through the contemplation of divine light. It represents the intersection of the human and the divine, aligning with the Hermetic and Neoplatonic pursuit of spiritual ascent and the 'intelligible sun.'
Marsilio Ficino
Ficino's 'De lumine' (On Light) theorizes light as the physical manifestation of divine grace, a concept visually realized in the radiance of the Transfigured Christ.
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
His mystical theology regarding the 'dazzling darkness' and the ascent to God informed the Renaissance understanding of the visionary experience shown here.
Object
Oil on panel
religious
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
https://sammlungenonline.albertina.at/?query=search=/record/objectnumbersearch=[193]&showtype=record
850 × 1233 px
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on March 31, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.