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Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileThis 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.
Giles of Viterbo
As a key advisor to Pope Julius II, his Neoplatonic and Kabbalistic theories on the 'Golden Age' and the restoration of the Church informed the cycle's themes.
2 Maccabees
The primary biblical source (chapter 3) for the story of Heliodorus attempting to seize funds intended for widows and orphans.
Object
Fresco
religious
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.