Caravaggio The Calling of St. Matthew painting in the Contarelli Chapel Rome Italy San Luigi dei Francesi
The Calling of Saint Matthew is a masterpiece by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, depicting the Calling of Matthew. It was completed in 1599-1600 for the Contarelli Chapel in the church of the French congregation, San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. Over a decade before, Cardinal Matteu Contreil (in Italian, Matteo Contarelli) had left funds and specific instructions for the decoration of a chapel based on themes of his namesake. Decoration of the dome was started with frescoes by the late Mannerist artist, and one of the most popular painters in Rome at the time, Cavalier D'Arpino, Caravaggio's former employer. But with the elder painter busy with royal and papal patronage, Cardinal Francesco Del Monte, Caravaggio's patron and also the prefect of the Fabbrica of St Peter's (the Vatican office for Church property), intervened to obtain for Caravaggio his first major church commission and first painting with more than a handful of figures. The three adjacent Caravaggio canvases in the Contarelli chapel represent a decisive shift from the idealising Mannerism of which d'Arpino was the last major practitioner, and the newer, more naturalistic and subject-oriented art represented by Caravaggio and Annibale Carracci: they were highly influential in their day. The Calling hangs opposite The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew. Between the two, at the altar, is The Inspiration of Saint Matthew (1602). While the Martyrdom was likely the first to be started, the Calling was, by report, the first to be completed. The commission for these two lateral paintings — the Calling and the Martyrdom — is dated July 1599, and final payment was made in July 1600. The painting depicts the story from the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 9:9): Jesus saw a man named Matthew at his seat in the custom house, and said to him, "Follow me", and Matthew rose and followed him. In this painting, the gloom and the canvassed window appears to situate the table indoors, Christ brings the true light to the dark spa
Size: 5134px × 3410px
Location: Rome, Italy
Photo credit: © M.Flynn / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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