Day #88: The Calling of St. Matthew

The Calling of St. Matthew by Caravaggio

It has been a rather quiet week aside from the usual school work. I have an ethics paper due on Tuesday, but it's coming along rather well -at least I think it is. But I thought in the meantime that I would post a little about a significant piece of art I had the opportunity to experience during my travels around Rome. 

This is one of my favorite pieces of art from the semester. It is from the Baroque period as part of the reaction in the Catholic culture to the Protestant Reformation. It portrays the scene from the Gospel where Our Lord sees Matthew with his fellow tax collectors and tells Matthew, "Come, follow me." It is located in a beautiful side chapel in a church of St. Louis of France in Rome, alongside two other paintings from the life of St. Matthew by the Baroque painter Caravaggio. 

First, let me tell you a little bit about the painter, Caravaggio. Caravaggio was a controversial artist from Milan. He was born wealthy, but he was orphaned at age ten. Towards the end of the 1500s, he arrived in Rome as the typical starving artist. With his painting of The Calling of St. Matthew, however, he was catapulted into success. His style was ignobility in art, for which he was a contentious figure. He had a violent temper, but he was also a follower of St. Philip Neri, a great preacher and a contemporary of his. St. Philip Neri had just founded his oratory, so it is possible that Caravaggio may have come to hear him preach.

Caravaggio introduced into his paintings the use of heavy contrast between light and dark to bring drama to the painting. He would set up lanterns as spot-lights on his work to help exaggerate the shadows and the light in his work. This technique may be contrasted with the style of Michelangelo's use of light and shadows. The use of light and shadow is what shows pre- and post- Caravaggio. The style of Caravaggio is also in the same spirit of the Italian artist Giotto, who painted the beautiful frescos of the life of St. Francis for the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. Giotto used modeling and gestures to help tell the story of the painting.

Now, to discuss the painting itself. The light is not coming from the window. It is not from the natural world. The hand of Christ is modeled after the hand of Michelangelo's The Creation of Man, one of the most  famous fresco which adorns the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Which hand Caravaggio is imitating (God the Father's or Adam's) is debatable. St. Peter is in front of Christ, and is portrayed often in Baroque religious art because this art is proclaiming the primacy of Peter and Catholicism as the true faith. Christ and St. Peter are clad in their traditional garb, while Matthew and his fellow tax collectors are wearing the garb of the day, thus relating the viewer to the scene in the painting. One tax collector is using his fingers to stack the coins, while another is adjusting his spectacles. Each has a different reaction  to Christ. Matthew has heard and is pointing to himself as if to say, "Me, Lord?" The light is cast on his face, drawing the viewer's eye to him as the focal point. The two figures on the left are unaware of Christ's call. As for the two figures on the right: one is unsure and is ready to draw his sword. The other, looking askance, appears curious and casual as he leans on St. Matthew. One gets the impression that he may do whatever Matthew does. Caravaggio brings you into the scene, and forces us to ask the questions, Where is Jesus calling me, and what is my response? 

I think part of the reason why this painting is so meaningful to me is because of the different reactions of the men in the scene, and its reference to the poem on the right side of my blog, how "Only those who see take off their shoes - the rest sit around and pluck blackberries." St. Matthew was willing to see in this scene, and has been given the grace to see. The other tax collectors are partially or completely oblivious to the call of Christ. St. Matthew has seen and is about to take off his shoes. So as this Lent draws to a close, how aware are we of Christ's presence in our lives? How aware are we of His presence in our souls at every given moment? His presence in nature, in the people around us, the churches, beautiful artwork and music? He is all around us - it is up to us to awaken ourselves to His presence. To paraphrase G.K. Chesterton, The world will never suffer for lack of wonders, but for lack of wonder.