National Gallery of Art :: The Collection :: Christ Cleansing the Temple
  • Overview
  • Inscription
  • Provenance
  • Exhibition History
  • Bibliography

Overview

In this tempestuous scene, El Greco depicted an angry Christ driving the moneychangers from the Temple. An uncommon theme, it became increasingly popular in the latter half of the sixteenth century, promoted by the Council of Trent as a symbol of the Catholic church's attempt to purify itself after the Protestant Reformation. Here El Greco portrayed partially draped women and bare-chested men writhing and twisting to escape the blows of Christ's scourge, emphasizing the agitation of the participants and exaggerating their irreverence. The setting is one of classical grandeur, more reminiscent of an Italian Renaissance palace than of the sacred precincts of the Temple in Jerusalem.

This panel was painted in Venice before El Greco made his way to Spain. The illusionistic space and voluptuous figures in this early work are vastly different from the flattened space and stylized forms of Byzantine art, which continued to dominate painting in El Greco's native Crete. El Greco's arrival in Venice, in about 1567, coincided with a high point in that city's artistic achievement. That the Cretan artist had absorbed the influence of the Venetian masters and taught himself a new way of painting is evident in the movement and drama, solidly modeled figures, and boldly brushed colors of this panel. The influence of the Venetians is equally evident in the elaborate architectural setting with its complicated perspective.

Inscription

lower left to right of bird cage: (DOMÉNIKOS THEOTOK[O]POULOS KR[E]S) (Domenicos Theotocopoulos Cretan)

Marks and Labels

null

Provenance

Possibly in the collection of the Marqués de Salamanca [d. 1866], Madrid.[1] Sir John Charles Robinson [1824-1913], London;[2] (his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 7-8 May 1868, 1st day, no. 25); Sir Francis Cook, 1st Bt. [1817-1901], Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey;[3] by inheritance to his son, Sir Frederick Lucas Cook, 2nd Bt. [1844-1920], Doughty House;[4] by inheritance to his son, Sir Herbert Frederick Cook, 3rd Bt. [1868-1939], Doughty House;[5] by inheritance to his son, Sir Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, 4th Bt. [1907-1978], Doughty House, and Cothay Manor, Somerset; sold May or June 1955 to (Margaret Drey, London);[5] (Rosenberg and Stiebel, New York); sold 17 October 1955 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[6] gift 1957 to NGA.

[1] Neil Maclaren, National Gallery Catalogues: The Spanish School, rev. ed. by Allan Braham (London, 1960), 27, fn. 27 (under no. 1457). In an 1895 letter in the archives of the National Gallery, London, Sir J. C. Robinson indicated that he had bought the version of the Expulsion now in London from the Marqués de Salamanca in Madrid "some 15 or 20 years ago". Because other evidence indicates that the London painting could not have been obtained in Madrid, Maclaren suggests that Robinson may have purchased the Washington version (which the baronet also once owned) from the Marqués de Salamanca.

[2] John Charles Robinson, Memoranda on Fifty Pictures, London, 1868: 38-41, no. 28.

[3] More than a dozen paintings from the Robinson sale went to Cook. To judge from annotated auction catalogues, some were bought outright, while others such as NGA 1957.14.4 were bought in and subsequently offered to Cook.

[4] Abridged Catalogue of the Pictures at Doughty House, Richmond, Belonging to Sir Frederick Cook, Bart., M.P., Visconde de Monserrate, London, 1903: 22, no. 5; Maurice Brockwell, Catalogue of the Paintings at Doughty House, Richmond, and Elsewhere in the Collection of Sir Frederick Cook, Bt., Visconde de Monserrate, London, 1915: 3:no. 495.

[5] See copies of correspondence in NGA curatorial files, from the Cook Collection Archive in care of John Somerville, England.

[6] A copy of the 17 October 1955 bill from Rosenberg & Stiebel to the Kress Foundation is in NGA curatorial files.

Exhibition History

1894
Venetian Art, The New Gallery, London, 1894-1895, 35, no. 182.
1895
Spanish Art, The New Gallery, London 1895-1896, 30, no. 130.
1913
Spanish Old Masters, Grafton Galleries, London, 1913-1914, 113-114, no. 116.
1948
Loan Exhibition of Pictures from the Cook Collection, The Holburne of Mentrie Museum, Bath, 1948-1951, no. 495, repro.
1956
Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1956, 92-94, no. 34.
1982
El Greco of Toledo, The Toledo [Ohio] Museum of Art; Prado, Madrid; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1982-1983, 78-80, 226-227, no. 2, pl. 12.
1999
El Greco: Identidad y transformación, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid; Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome; National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Athens, 1999-2000, no. 12, repro. (shown only in Madrid and Rome).
2001
El Greco: Themes and Variations, The Frick Collection, New York, 2001, pl. IV.
2003
El Greco: The Illumination and Quickening of the Spirit, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The National Gallery, London, 2003-2004, no. 6, repro., as The Purification of the Temple (shown only in London).

Bibliography

1868
Robinson, John Charles. Memoranda on Fifty Pictures. London, 1868: 38-41, no. 28.
1897
Justi, Carl. "Die Anfänge des Greco." Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst 8 (1897): 182-184. Reprinted in Carl Justi. Miscellaneen aus drei Jahrhunderten spanischen Kunstlebens. 2 vols. Berlin, 1907: 1:217-218.
1903
Cook, Francis. Abridged Catalogue of the Pictures at Doughty House, Richmond, Belonging to Sir Frederick Cook, Bart., M.P., Visconde de Monserrate. London, 1903: 22, no. 5.
1903
Williamson, George, ed. Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. 4th ed. 5 vols. London, 1903-1904: 5:166.
1907
Thieme-Becker 1907-1950, Vol. 33 (1939): 5.
1908
Cossío, Manuel B. El Greco. Madrid, 1908: 76-81, 609. no. 349; pl. 7 bis (also 1972 rev. ed.: 39-40, 46-47, 359, no. 44, fig. 10).
1909
Calvert, Albert F., and C. Gasquoine Hartley. El Greco. London, 1909: 37-38, 46.
1911
Mayer, August L. El Greco. Munich, 1911: 22-24, 83, repro. 23.
1914
Bertraux, Emile. "L'exposition espagnole de Londres." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 11 (1914): 254-255.
1914
Beruete y Moret, Aureliano de. "Exposition d'anciens maîtres espagnols à Londres." La revue de l'art ancien et moderne 35 (1914): 65.
1915
Brockwell, Maurice. Catalogue of the Paintings at Doughty House, Richmond, and Elsewhere in the Collection of Sir Frederick Cook, Bt., Visconde de Monserrate. 3 vols. London, 1915: 3:131, no. 495, pl. 17.
1926
Mayer, August L. Dominico Theotocopuli, El Greco. Munich, 1926: 10, no. 49, pl. 3.
1927
Willumsen, Jens Ferdinand. La jeunesse du peintre El Greco. 2 vols. Paris, 1927: 2:275-290, pl. 50.
1928
Villar, Emilio H. del. El Greco en España. Madrid, 1928: 81, pl. 1.
1930
Rutter, Frank. El Greco. New York, 1930: 3, 16-17, 89, no. 4, pl. 3.
1930
Waterhouse, Ellis K. "El Greco's Italian Period." Art Studies 8 (1930): 70, 85, no. 5.
1931
Mayer, August L. El Greco. Berlin, 1931: 13, 26-31, fig. 13.
1932
Brockwell, Maurice W. Abridged Catalogye of the Pictures at Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey, in the Collection of Sir Herbert Cook. London, 1932: 29, no. 495.
1937
Legendre, Maurice, and Alfred Hartmann. Domenikos Theotokopoulos Called El Greco. Paris, 1937: 158, repro.
1938
Goldscheider, Ludwig. El Greco. London, 1938: pl. 5 (also 1954 rev. ed.: pl. 5).
1943
Harris, Enriqueta. El Greco: The Purification of the Temple. The Gallery Books 2. London, 1943: 7-12, figs. 3, 8.
1943
López-Rey, José. "El Greco's Baroque Light and Form." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 24 (1943): 75-76, fig. 1.
1948
Palluchini, Rodolfo. "Some Early Works by El Greco." The Burlington Magazine 90 (1948): 133.
1950
Camón Aznar, José. Domenico Greco. 2 vols. Madrid, 1950: 1:62-66, fig. 40; 2:1361, no. 82 (also 1972 rev. ed., 1:80-84, 133, fig. 46; 2:1342, no. 85).
1956
Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Colllection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1951-56. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida and Fern Rusk Shapley. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1956: 92-95, no. 34, repros. 93, 95.
1957
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 38
1957
Wittkower, Rudolf. "El Greco's Language of Gestures." Art News 56 (March, 1957): 54, repro. 48.
1958
Gaya Nuño, Juan Anotonio. La pintura española fuera de España; historia y catàlogo. Madrid, 1958: 187, no. 1193.
1958
Trapier, Elizabeth du Gué. "Greco in the Farnese Palace, Rome." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 51 (1958): 78, 83-85.
1959
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 268, repro.
1960
MacLaren, Neil. National Gallery Catalogues: The Spanish School. Rev. ed. by Allan Braham. London, 1960: 24-27, under no. 1457.
1961
Sánchez de Palacios, Mariano. El Greco. Madrid, 1961: 112.
1961
Seymour 1961 (Kress), 131, color repro. pl. 123
1962
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Treasures from the National Gallery of Art, New York, 1962: 42, color repro.
1962
Pavon, B. "El Greco arquitecto." Archivo Español de Arte y Arqueologia 35 (1962): 209-214.
1962
Wethey, Harold E. El Greco and His School. 2 vols. Princeton, 1962: 1:21-23, figs. 3, 363,; 2:66-68, no. 104 (also Spanish ed. Madrid, 1967: 1:40-41, pls. 3, 363; 2:81-83, no. 104).
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 160, color repro. 161.
1964
Xydis, Z. G. "El Greco's `Healing of the Blind.'" Gazette des Beaux-Arts 64 (1964): 303-304, fig. 6 (detail).
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 62
1965
The Italian Heritage. Exh. cat. Wildenstein & Co. New York, 1965: under no. 43.
1966
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:196, color repro.
1968
European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1968: 55, repro.
1968
The Frick Collection: An Illustrated Catalogue. 2 vols. Princeton, 1968: 2:314, 316-317, under 09.1.66.
1969
Manzini, Gianna, and Tiziana Frati. L'opera completa del Greco. Milan, 1969: no. 10a.
1973
Gudiol y Ricart, José. Domenikos Theotokopoulos, El Greco. Translated by Kenneth Lyons. New York, 1973: 21, 339, no. 8, figs. 9-10, color fig. 11 (also 1983 ed.: 21, 339, no. 8, figs. 9-10, color fig. 11).
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 162, repro.
1976
Davies, David. El Greco. London, 1976: 6, 11, note to pl. 2, color pl. 2.
1976
Pérez Sánchez, A. E. The Golden Age of Spanish Painting. Exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts. London, 1976: 30, under no. 6.
1977
Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: 191-194, figs. 194, 197, as The Expulsion of the Moneychangers from the Temple.
1983
Puppi, Lionello. "Il soggiorno italiano del Greco." Studies in the History of Art 13 (1983): 143.
1984
Davies, David. "El Greco and the Spiritual Reform Movement in Spain." Studies in the History of Art 13 (1984): 63, fig. 1.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 234, no 300, color repro.
1984
Wethey, Harold E. "El Greco in Rome and the Portrait of Vincenzo Anastagi." Studies in the History of Art 13 (1984):172, repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 188, repro.
1990
Brown, Jonathan, and Richard G. Mann. Spanish Paintings of the Fifteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1990: 67-72, color repro. 69.
1990
El Greco of Crete: Exhibition on the Occasion of the 450th Anniversary of his Birth. Exh. cat. Iraklion, 1990: 304-307, fig. 1, 399-400.
1992
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 79, repro.
1993
Nygren, Edward J. “Money." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. Edited by Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 2:620.
1998
Gibson, Sarah S. and Paul Grimley Kuntz." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. 2 vols. Edited by Helene E. Roberts. Chicago and London, 1998: 1:305.
2004
Danziger, Elon. "The Cook Collection: Its Founder and Its Inheritors." The Burlington Magazine 146, no. 1216 (July 2004): 447.
2010
Frankfort, Enriqueta Harris, translated by Nigel Glendinning. "El Greco's 'Fortuna Critica' in Britain." In Spanish Art in Britain and Ireland, 1750-1920: Studies in Reception, In Memory of Enriqueta Harris Frankfort. Edited by Nigel Glendinning and Hilary Macartney. London, 2010: 246, fig. 55, color pl. 16.

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