Christ Cleansing the Temple

probably before 1570

El Greco

Painter, Greek, 1541 - 1614

A long haired, bearded man holds a whip and stands in the middle of a crowd of about two dozen people who stand or twist, all in a building with columns and arches in this horizontal painting. Brushstrokes are visible in some areas, especially in the clothing and sky seen through one arch. All the men have light skin with a greenish cast while the women and children have smooth, pale skin. They wear dresses and robes in shades of rose pink, lapis blue, emerald green, or brown. The man at the center, Jesus, stands facing us with his right knee bent and his weight shifted onto his other leg. He holds a short, four-tailed whip in his right hand high and stretched across his body. He tilts his head to our left and looks down in that direction at the person next to him. Jesus has brown hair and wears a dark pink robe under a bright blue cloth that drapes over one shoulder and across the other hip. To our left, two men with bare torsos and raised arms lean away from Jesus. The man closest to him faces away from us as he bends over at the waist and looks over his shoulder at Jesus. That man wears a burnt orange cloth wrapped around his hips over a dark brown skirt, perhaps of a toga. Behind this pair are about a dozen other people and below them, two bare-breasted women recline on steps, their bodies angled to our right. One woman throws her head back against her raised arm, her mouth open and brow gathered. The other woman looks up at Jesus, holding one hand to her bare breast, her lips closed. She rests her right hand, to our left, on a cage holding five white birds on the ground next to her. Next to Jesus, on our right, a wrinkled, balding, gray-haired and bearded man sits on the steps so his knees come toward us. His torso twists to our left so he can rest his chin in his hand as he looks up at Jesus. That elbow and his other hand rest on the handle of a basket filled with gold coins. There are several animals around this man, including two black and white rabbits at his feet, nosing silver objects spilling from a pouch. Nearby, a gray bird sits on the step, and a white lamb with its feet tied to a stick lies belly up next to a wooden box. Behind the man is a crowd of at least eight people, looking at Jesus or each other. A bare-breasted woman guides a naked, toddler-aged child away from this group. A stick balanced across the woman’s far shoulder has a chicken hanging from the front end and a basket hanging behind. Another child lies back on the steps near the right edge of the painting. Next to that child, an open book and a loaf of bread lie beneath a table covered with an orange and brown patterned cloth. The scene takes place in a structure with columns and arched openings. Two people wearing blue robes hustle under one arched opening to our right, which leads back to a shadowed space lit with a chandelier. Blue sky and gray and white clouds are visible through the arch over Jesus, where there are also more sand-brown buildings in the distance. There are statues high up on ledges on either side of that opening. The artist signed the work in white paint in the lower left to the right of the bird cage in Greek letters.

Media Options

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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.

More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication Spanish Paintings of the Fifteenth through Nineteenth Centuries, which is available as a free PDF https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/spanish-painting-15th-19th-centuries.pdf

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 28

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 65.4 x 83.2 cm (25 3/4 x 32 3/4 in.)
    framed: 87.6 x 106.7 x 7.6 cm (34 1/2 x 42 x 3 in.)

  • Accession

    1957.14.4

Artwork history & notes

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. See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/514.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1894

  • Venetian Art, The New Gallery, London, 1894-1895, no. 182.

1895

  • Spanish Art, The New Gallery, London 1895-1896, no. 130.

1913

  • Spanish Old Masters, Grafton Galleries, London, 1913-1914, 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).

2014

  • El Greco in the National Gallery of Art and Washington-Area Collections: A 400th Anniversary Celebration, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2014-2015, no catalogue.

  • El Greco: Painter and Master, Museo de Santa Cruz, Toledo, 2014, not in catalogue.

2019

  • Greco, Musée du Grand Palais, Paris,The Art Institute of Chicago, 2019 - 2020, no. 50, repro. (shown only in Paris).

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

  • Williamson, George Charles, ed. Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. 4th ed. 5 vols. London, 1903-1904: 5:166.

  • 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.

1907

  • Thieme, Ulrich, and Felix Becker, eds. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 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.

  • 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. A 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

  • Waterhouse, Ellis K. "El Greco's Italian Period." Art Studies 8 (1930): 70, 85, no. 5.

  • Rutter, Frank. El Greco. New York, 1930: 3, 16-17, 89, no. 4, pl. 3.

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.

  • 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 Collection 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.

  • Walker, John. "The Nation's Newest Old Masters." The National Geographic Magazine 110, no. 5 (November 1956): 631, color repro. 633, 634.

1957

  • Wittkower, Rudolf. "El Greco's Language of Gestures." Art News 56 (March, 1957): 54, repro. 48.

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 38.

1958

  • Gaya Nuño, Juan Anotonio. La pintura española fuera de España; historia y catàlogo. Madrid, 1958: 187, no. 1193.

  • 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

  • Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 131, color repro. pl. 123.

  • Sánchez de Palacios, Mariano. El Greco. Madrid, 1961: 112.

1962

  • Pavon, B. "El Greco arquitecto." Archivo Español de Arte y Arqueologia 35 (1962): 209-214.

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 42, color repro.

  • 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

  • The Italian Heritage. Exh. cat. Wildenstein & Co. New York, 1965: under no. 43.

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 62.

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

  • The Frick Collection: An Illustrated Catalogue. 2 vols. Princeton, 1968: 2:314, 316-317, under 09.1.66.

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 55, repro.

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.

  • 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.

  • Wethey, Harold E. "El Greco in Rome and the Portrait of Vincenzo Anastagi." Studies in the History of Art 13 (1984):172, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 234, no 300, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 188, repro.

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.

  • 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.

1992

  • National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 79, repro.

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.

  • 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.

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.

Inscriptions

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

Wikidata ID

Q5108852

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