Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0 · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileVerdrijving van de wisselaars uit de tempel
About This Work
Christ stands in a forceful pose at the center, wielding a whip to expel traders whose tables have been violently overturned. Merchants scramble to collect their coins or flee with baskets of birds, while observers watch from between the massive classical columns of the temple interior. The composition emphasizes the physical and spiritual upheaval caused by this act of purification.
The cleansing of the temple serves as a powerful allegory for the internal purification of the soul or the 'inner temple,' a concept prevalent in Neoplatonism and later esoteric traditions regarding the removal of material distractions from the spiritual path. It represents the rejection of commerce and worldly exchange within the sacred space of the divine.
Inscriptions(Latin)
T. Bernard. inuēt. Sadeler excud. SCRIPTŪ EST: QVIA DOMVS MEA, DOMVS ORATIONIS EST. VOS AVTEM FECISTIS ILLAM SPELVNCAM LATRONVM.
Translation
T. Bernard invenit. Sadeler excudit. IT IS WRITTEN: FOR MY HOUSE IS THE HOUSE OF PRAYER. BUT YOU HAVE MADE IT A DEN OF THIEVES.
Connected Texts
Gospel of Matthew
The inscription on the print is a direct quotation from Matthew 21:13, the primary source for this iconographic scene.
Collections
Provenance & Source
Object
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
paper
height 249 mm x width 206 mm
religious
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 2, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.