Héliodore chassé du temple

This large-scale tapestry reproduces Raphael's fresco from the Vatican Stanze, depicting the divine intervention that prevented the looting of the Temple's treasury. On the right, Heliodorus is trampled by a golden-clad horseman, while on the left, the High Priest Onias III prays at the altar before a seven-branched lampstand. The composition uses dramatic diagonal motion and deep architectural perspective to emphasize the suddenness of the celestial strike.

The iconographic program of the Stanze was influenced by Giles of Viterbo, a Christian Kabbalist and Neoplatonist who saw the Roman Church as the spiritual successor to the Temple of Jerusalem. This scene serves as an allegory for the divine protection of the Church's temporal and spiritual sovereignty during the High Renaissance.