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Caravaggio "The Calling of Saint Matthew" 1599-1600

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (Italian 1573-1610)

Oil on canvas

San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, Italy

 

Caravaggio pushed his figures up against the picture plane and used dramatic lighting which gives his paintings a quality of immediacy. He portrayed realistic observations of the physical and emotional human state. These combined characteristics had a formative influence on Baroque painting.

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Subject: "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." (Matthew 9:9)

 

Caravaggio depicts Matthew the tax collector sitting at a table. Jesus Christ and Saint Peter have entered the room, and Jesus is pointing at Matthew. A beam of light illuminates the faces of the men at the table who are looking at Jesus Christ.

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Uploaded on August 19, 2016
Taken on August 15, 2016