A contentious tale about an Italian Master Artist and his noteworthy art : a painting, known as “Saint Matthew and the Angel ” (1602). The artist is “Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio” a.k.a. “Caravaggio”, he was appointed for painting scenes from the life of Saint Matthew for the Contarelli Chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, dedicated to a Saint St. Matthew.
In the year 1599, Caravaggio signed a contract to decorate the burial Chapel of St. Matthew. Originally, two scenes from the life of Saint Mathew were to be painted by Caravaggio as a commission and the agreement was such that, if he were to impress the patrons, the third will also be commissioned further.
The first two paintings, one to the left of the altar, were supposed to show the calling of St. Matthew by Jesus to cease tax collecting and become a disciple. The other painting on the right was to showcase his martyrdom. The painting at the centre, above the altar, was to depict the inspiration of St. Matthew as he was hard at work on writing his Gospel.
It was then decided that the altar was to be composed of two Caravaggio paintings as well as a statue of the saint by a Flemish artist. However, the church was not pleased with the statue and Caravaggio was re-hired to do another piece as the centre for the altar, to show Saint Matthew writing the Gospel under the guidance of an angel.
Saint Matthew
Saint Matthew was a tax collector for the Jews, being a Jew himself, he was working for Roman forces, and it is apparent that he was hated by other Jews and was known as a traitor even a ‘sinner’, When Jesus chose him as one of his intimate followers, it came to people as an extreme shock!
It got more appalling when Jesus was invited by Mathew to a farewell party at his house, where other sinners (tax collectors) joined in as mentioned in the Gospel.
People wondered what might be the reason which led Jesus to be associated with such immoral people, to which Jesus replied, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners”.
Caravaggio was known for his thoughtful compositions as he pushed boundaries in art, he included dramatic interpretations of lighting effects. He was a magnificent artist but was a highly conflicted man, he knew about the troubles in life.
The three paintings were completed and installed in the church, and when viewed in order, it goes on to tell a powerful story about the cost of achieving greatness.
St. Matthew and the angel is the second painting. The Painting has an angel whispering reminders and guiding St. Matthew as he goes on to write his Gospel. Matthew seems tense amid an artistic reverie. Caravaggio’s Saint Matthew and the Angel depicts tangible relationships with the divine. “Matthew sits on the left cross-legged at a desk as an angel stands before him to the right guiding his hands as they write the Hebrew that appears upon the page. Eyebrows raised and forehead wrinkled, the Evangelist stares in amazement as the ancient text appears before him.” The painting was rejected; which showed Matthew as too humble and Rustic. It made it controversial among the patrons; they assumed Caravaggio had depicted the saint as an unlearned peasant, gaping in the presence of an angel. The church rejected it and declared it as an irreverent presentation of Saint Matthew, and it was acquired right away by Marchese Giustiniani for his private collection. This original controversial painting was destroyed in Berlin in 1945 and is reproduced from its black & white Photographs.
The painting in the chapel is the second version, Caravaggio repainted it with a much more glorifying image of St. Matthew. The first was true to Caravaggio’s imagination as even though Matthew is in the middle of the excitement of creative effort, he too must have troubled with his musings for work, he must have too struggled with creative slowdown & wondered if he was a good enough writer. Caravaggio understood the situation and the Church did not.
“And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly with mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Caravaggio’s first Matthew is not a king, a noble or a scholar; he is a simple man who has received divine inspiration for he is chosen to walk humbly beside his God.
Artist
As soon as the second painting of Saint Mathew and the angel was completed, it made Caravaggio a renowned painter in Italy. He lived a brief life which was plagued by controversy and consumed with profane, Caravaggio was an artistic genius and had under his name some of the Western world’s most theologically profound works of art. He was born during extreme poverty & famine. Caravaggio was paid in lettuce in turn for tedious work; tired of it, he left d’Arpino in 1594 and started painting small still-lifes, self-portraits, genre scenes, and vivid pictures of young boys for the open market. He was down with his luck, in 1606 in Rome, he got involved in a duel which caused a person’s death, he was suspected of being a murderer. Anyone from the Papal state had the right to kill Caravaggio & a bounty was placed on his head. He ran from Malta, Sicily and Naples for the next four years & died in the small town of Porto Ercole while racing to track down a boat that held three of his paintings.
The Contarelli Chapel was the sole reason Caravaggio’s career took to such great success. His paintings were so famous that two years later, the unfinished sculpture of St. Matthew for the chapel’s altar by Flemish artist Jacques Cabaret was finally installed and suddenly was removed in less than a month; he was chosen to create the new substitute. So on February 7, 1602, Caravaggio painted an altarpiece of a seated Saint Matthew receiving divine inspiration from an angel. His first Inspiration of Saint Matthew titled: “Saint Matthew and the Angel ”, Caravaggio created a masterpiece of divine humanization; it continues to be one of the most controversial paintings of his extravagant career.
It is said the first painting “pleased no one”, there was a clause in the contract he signed with the chapel stating “if for any reason the Church rejected the painting, the artist needs to pay for a replacement.” Caravaggio chose to paint the replacement, alterations according to the church’s desires & meet the traditional renderings of the subject. The second painting by him was accepted by the church & to this day it is present in the church.
As one studies the painting- The form of chiaroscuro is referred to as tenebrism which creates contrasts of Light & shade cast upon Mathew & bit on the angel, this defines the deep details & quality of both characters. Defining three-dimensional forms. Caravaggio had a provocative & unique style, a figural appearance & androgynous angel is the soft perfect depiction of a heavenly being. Saint on the other hand seemed unconventional, resembling a 17th-century Italian peasant with bare feet and a gnarled beard. Captured beautifully, the reason the church rejected it was that the depiction of a saint was tangible and identifiable, Caravaggio humanised the sacred, Saint Matthew and the Angel was a principle of “verbal dictation”, in which the Holy Spirit, through the angel, ” moves the pen” of the saint. Religious-themed art, such doctrine issues related to the interpretation of art can hurt certain sentiments.
References
Caravaggio. Saint Matthew and the Angel 1602- by Caravaggio[online] (Last updated:-2009). Available at:Saint Matthew and the Angel 1602- by Caravaggio [Accessed date:20 Dec 2022]
Wikipedia. Saint Matthew and th Angel [online] (Last updated:- 4 Sep 2022 ).
Available at: Saint Matthew and the Angel – Wikipedia [Accessed date:20 Dec 2022]
Alessandro Rossi 2022 . A theological question:Caravaggio’s “Saint Matthew and the Angel”
[online] (Last updated:-17 Feb 2022). Available at: A theological question: Caravaggio’s “Saint Matthew and the Angel” (unisr.it) [Accessed date:21 Dec 2022]
The Artist’s job 2017. Humanising the sacred:Caravaggio’s Saint Matthew & the Angel [online] (Last updated:-21/3/2017). Available at:Humanising the Sacred: Caravaggio’s “Saint Matthew & the Angel” – The Artist’s Job (weebly.com) [Accessed date: [21 Dec 2022]
Franciascan Media 2021. Saint of the day: Saint Matthew [online] (Last updated: Sep 2021). Available at:Saint Matthew | Franciscan Media [Accessed date:22 Dec 2022]
