The Inspiration of Saint Matthew

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The Inspiration of Saint Matthew
Italian: San Matteo e angelo

Artist	Caravaggio
Year	1602
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	292 cm × 186 cm (115 in × 73 in)
Location	San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome

The Inspiration of Saint Matthew (1602) is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Commissioned by the French Cardinal Matteo Contarelli, the canvas hangs in Contarelli chapel altar in the church of the French congregation San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, Italy.

It is one of three Caravaggio canvases in the chapel: hanging between the larger earlier canvases of The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew, and The Calling of Saint Matthew. This was not an easy commission for Caravaggio, and at least two of the three paintings had to be either replaced or repainted to satisfy his patron, the Cardinal Del Monte.

Creation

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In February 1602, following the installation of his first two pieces in the chapel, Caravaggio was contracted to create an altarpiece, to be delivered by Pentecost of that year. The first painting he created, Saint Matthew and the Angel, was rejected and later destroyed in World War II.^[1]

The Inspiration of Saint Matthew was finished rather quickly, with Caravaggio receiving payment by September 1602.^[2]

Description

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In the work featured on the altar, the angel belongs to an aerial and sublime dimension, enveloped in an encircling rippled sheet. The restless Matthew leans to work, as the angel enumerates for him the work to come. All is darkness but for the two large figures. Matthew appears to have rushed to his desk, his stool teetering into our space. His expression is sober.

References

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^ "St Matthew and the Angel by CARAVAGGIO". www.wga.hu. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
^ "The Inspiration of Saint Matthew by CARAVAGGIO". www.wga.hu. Retrieved 2023-02-22.

External links

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Media related to Saint Matthew and the angel by Caravaggio at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Caravaggio
List of paintings
1593–1594	Boy Peeling Fruit (c. 1592) Young Sick Bacchus (c. 1593) Boy with a Basket of Fruit (c. 1593) Boy Bitten by a Crayfish (c. 1593; lost) The Fortune Teller (c. 1594) The Cardsharps (c. 1594)
1595–1599 Del Monte paintings	The Musicians (c. 1595) Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy (c. 1595) Boy Bitten by a Lizard (c. 1596) The Lute Player (c. 1596) Bacchus (c. 1596) Penitent Magdalene (c. 1597) Rest on the Flight into Egypt (c. 1597) Medusa (c. 1597) Portrait of a Courtesan (Fillide Melandroni) (c. 1597) Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto (c. 1597) Saint Catherine of Alexandria (c. 1598) The Sacrifice of Isaac (Princeton; c. 1598) John the Baptist (c. 1598) Martha and Mary Magdalene (c. 1598) Portrait of Maffeo Barberini (1598) Basket of Fruit (c. 1599) Judith Beheading Holofernes (c. 1599) David and Goliath (c. 1599) Narcissus (c. 1599)
1600–1606 Most famous painter in Rome	The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599–1600) The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew (1599–1600) The Conversion of Saint Paul (1600) The Crucifixion of Saint Peter (1601) The Conversion of Saint Paul on the Road to Damascus (1601) Supper at Emmaus (London; 1601) Amor Victorious (1602) Saint Matthew and the Angel (1602; destroyed) The Inspiration of Saint Matthew (1602) The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (c. 1602) The Taking of Christ (1602) The Entombment of Christ (c. 1603) Saint Francis in Prayer (c. 1603) The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew (c. 1603–1606) Madonna of Loreto (Madonna dei Pellegrini, Pilgrims' Madonna) (c. 1604) The Crowning with Thorns (Prato; 1604) The Death of the Virgin (1604) Christ on the Mount of Olives (1605) Ecce Homo (Genoa; c. 1605) Saint Jerome in Meditation (c. 1605) Saint Jerome Writing (Rome; c. 1605) Portrait of Pope Paul V (1605) Still Life with Fruit (1605) Madonna and Child with Saint Anne (Dei Palafrenieri) (1606)
1606–1608 Naples and Malta	Ecce Homo (Madrid; c. 1605–1609) Mary Magdalen in Ecstasy (1606) Saint Francis in Meditation (1606) Supper at Emmaus (Milan; 1606) The Seven Works of Mercy (1606) The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew (1607) David with the Head of Goliath (Vienna; 1607) Madonna of the Rosary (1607) The Crowning with Thorns (Vienna; 1607) The Flagellation of Christ (c. 1607) Christ at the Column (c. 1607) Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (London; c. 1607) Saint Jerome Writing (Valletta; 1607) Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt and his Page (1607–1608) Portrait of Fra Antonio Martelli (1608) The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (1608) Sleeping Cupid (1608)
1608–1610 Sicily and Naples	The Annunciation (1608) The Burial of Saint Lucy (1608) The Raising of Lazarus (1609) Adoration of the Shepherds (1609) Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence (1609; lost) Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (Madrid; 1609) Denial of Saint Peter (1610) The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula (1610) David with the Head of Goliath (Rome; 1610)
Related	Paintings attributed to Caravaggio Utrecht Caravaggism Caravaggisti Caravaggio, il pittore maledetto Caravaggio (1986 film) Caravaggio (2007 film) Caravaggio's Shadow

The Inspiration of Saint Matthew

Creation

Description

See also

Further reading

References

External links