The Expulsion of the Money-changers from the Temple

The Expulsion of the Money-changers from the Temple, painted in 1724 and now in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, is a relatively early work in which Panini applied his growing skill in architectural perspective to a dramatic New Testament narrative. The subject — Christ overturning the tables of merchants and money-changers in the Temple of Jerusalem — had been one of the most frequently represented acts of Christ's public ministry since the sixteenth century, offering painters an opportunity to combine architectural grandeur with dynamic physical action. Panini imagined the Jerusalem Temple once again as a Roman classical structure, a common convention that placed the sacred narrative in architecturally legible terms for European viewers. The energetic foreground action, with figures scattering in all directions, contrasts with the solemn architectural backdrop in a manner that anticipates his mature ability to combine active staffage with monumental settings.

The composition is organised around Christ's energetic central figure, whose raised arm and forward lunge provide the dominant diagonal amid the scattering crowd. Panini used strong value contrasts between the lit foreground action and the shadowed architectural recesses behind to keep the dramatic focus at the centre of the image.