Description
The Calling of St. Matthew describes the moment when Jesus Christ inspires Matthew to follow him and become an apostle. The painting was commissioned by Cardinal Matthew Contarelli, who had provided resources and specific guidelines for the decoration of a chapel based on scenes from the life of his namesake, Saint Matthew. The chapel ceiling had already been decorated with frescoes by the popular Mannerist painter Cavaliere d'Arpino (Giuseppe Cesari), but because he was too busy with papal work to decorate the walls, Del Monte stepped in to secure the job for Caravaggio.
The Calling of Saint Matthew illustrates the passage from the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 9: 9), when Jesus entered the tribute, he saw Matthew in his seat and called him: "Follow me". According to the story, Mateo got up and followed him. In the painting, Christ (on the right, behind Peter) points to Levi, the tax collector (the bearded man in a beret) - and asks him to become the apostle Matthew. Although Levi is well to the left of the image, the viewer's attention is nonetheless drawn to him by the hands pointing at him, as well as the intensity of the light illuminating him.
Caravaggio depicted the event as an almost silent dramatic narrative. The sequence of actions before and after this moment can be easily and convincingly recreated. The tax collector Levi (named after Saint Matthew before he became an apostle) sat at a table with his four attendants, counting the day's earnings, the group illuminated by a fountain in the upper right of the painting. Christ, with his eyes veiled, with his halo, the only indication of divinity, enters with Saint Peter. A gesture of His right hand, all the more powerful and convincing due to its languor, summons Levi. Startled by the intrusion and perhaps dazzled by the sudden light from the newly opened door, Levi steps back and gestures to himself with his left hand as if to say, "Who, me?" His right hand remains on the coin he holds. he had been counting before the entrance of Christ.