Money in the Arts

Albrecht Altorfer’s engraving, Christ Expelling the Money Changers (c.1519), is an image that captures the story of Jesus removing the traders, they he felt were corrupting, the temple. The color is black and white. It was originally a (47x47) woodcut that was published a book. There is the long hall of the temple giving the engraving depth with Jesus in the foreground towering above two moneychangers. Jesus is standing over them in a position ready to strike the moneychangers that are cowering on the ground collecting their money. The lighting is a contrast of light and dark. The light is shining in from the upper left window of the tilt and goes to Jesus where it is reflecting in to a bright halo around him. Below are the merchants in dark colors because Jesus is blocking the light.
The engraving is dated in the early 16th century, c. 1519 according the National Gallery of Art. It is from Germany and created at the time of the Northern Renaissance.
The engraving addresses the story Jesus kicking the merchants out of the temple as expressed in it’s title. The way the lighting is dark around the merchants shows the view that money is corrupting and dark. The shadows lead the viewer to only guess what was going on the dark hollows of the temple. Money has been viewed as a corrupter and as an object that leads men askew of faith. The image shows that even in the presence of Jesus that the merchants were concerened with their profits as they are portrayed counting there last bit of money before being kicked out.