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Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileIn this dramatic scene, the nine Apostles remaining at the foot of Mount Tabor are confronted by a family seeking a cure for a young boy in the throes of demonic possession. The Apostles appear agitated and powerless, with several pointing upward to the mountaintop where the Transfiguration of Christ is occurring. The composition is marked by a sharp contrast between the shadows of the human world and the intense light emanating from the divine event above.
This work is frequently analyzed as a Neoplatonic allegory of the 'divided line,' representing the chasm between the suffering, shadow-filled material world and the luminous, intelligible realm of the divine. It reflects the influence of the Roman Neoplatonists, particularly Egidio da Viterbo, who viewed the Transfiguration as a key moment where the soul's ascent to God is made manifest.
Egidio da Viterbo
Egidio's Neoplatonic theology of light and the ascent of the soul is widely considered the primary intellectual framework for this painting's program.
Marsilio Ficino
Ficino's commentaries on the soul's struggle to free itself from the 'prison' of the body resonate with the depiction of the possessed boy and the Apostles' spiritual frustration.
Object
Oil on panel
religious
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
Raphael, Transfiguration, 1518-20,detail ; Vatican Museums (1)
3828 × 3549 px
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 1, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.