Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple

A dramatic scene set within a sprawling classical temple where the Syrian official Heliodorus is trampled by a celestial horseman and scourged by two divine figures. In the background, the High Priest Onias III kneels in prayer at the altar, while on the left, a crowd of women and children reacts to the supernatural event with terror and amazement. The architecture is detailed with coffered ceilings, statues in niches, and a prominent seven-branched menorah.

This narrative serves as an allegory for the protection of the sacred 'treasury' of divine wisdom from the profane. In the Renaissance and early modern period, the Temple of Jerusalem was often interpreted through a Neoplatonic lens as a macrocosmic symbol of the divine order, where supernatural intervention preserves the sanctity of the inner sanctum.