Christ Driving the Money-Changers from the Temple

For this biblical episode, Rembrandt effectively employed his skills for conveying forceful drama. This print depicts Christ, angered by business transactions occurring within the temple, assailing the vendors. Christ’s fury as he vigorously wields a length of rope provides the focal point for this complex composition. In a departure from the tradition of depicting rays of light around Christ’s head, Rembrandt has transferred them to Christ’s clenched fist, emphasizing the intensity of the action.

Rembrandt has choreographed the movement in this etching. Notice how Christ’s body—the pose of which is from a woodcut by Dürer—moves in an angular direction. The moneychangers at the left reiterate this diagonal line in their recoiled response. These movements not only underscore the dramatic events, but they unify this very complicated and chaotic scene, while at the upper right, temple authorities observe the scene below like spectators at an athletic event.