Calling of St. Matthew
Caravaggio’s deft handling of light grounds Calling of St. Matthew with a sense of reality. That’s why we’re able to look at this scene from a gospel story through secular eyes. The painter presents an extraordinary event through an everyday lens. This familiar but implausible story thus seems real. Caravaggio brings an angelic visitation down to earth. He painted St. Peter summoning St. Matthew to follow Jesus Christ in a casual setting.
We get the same biblical information about the story. But placing the situation in our familiar world helps us relate to it. Caravaggio includes a thick, solid table. He grants the forefront boy raw, muscular legs and even spotlights one. This gives the painting earthiness. It’s a real world scene. Yet, we also know from the title, Calling of St. Matthew, that it’s a gospel story. The only other hint of religiosity floods through the window at right. It’s the light of Matthew’s Lord Jesus. But we don’t see the source here – only that streaming, soulful, light.
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