Cleansing of the Temple

Cleansing of the Temple at the Musei di Strada Nuova depicts Christ's violent expulsion of the money-changers, a subject of righteous anger and purification. This dramatic scene allowed Guercino to compose a dynamic multi-figure action scene. Guercino's vivid early style, with its bold chiaroscuro and emotional immediacy, gave way after 1621 to a more classical manner influenced by the taste of Rome, creating two distinct bodies of work that represent the Baroque's competing impulses toward drama and order.

Christ's whip-wielding figure creates the compositional center of the chaotic scene. The overturning tables and fleeing merchants create a dynamic composition of righteous violence.