Cayetano de Acosta, The Transfiguration

1770-79
Divine Savior Collegiate Church, Seville, Spain

The altarpiece follows Matthew 17:1-8 and the other gospel accounts. At the summit, God is on his throne surrounded by angels. He points down toward Christ, as if to say, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him" (Matthew 17:5). Below, Christ stands on a mountain peak and looks up to his Father. On his left and right are Moses and Elijah. Moses' forelocks fly up in the shape of the horns that are his conventional attribute.

Peter, James, and John look on from below, and many others are included in the piece. Still more angels populate the lower part of the altarpiece.

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Photographed at the church by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.