Episode 256 - Caravaggio’s “St. Matthew and the Angel”

Rebuilding The Renaissance

In 1602, Caravaggio signed his final contract with the Contarelli family to paint an altarpiece for their family chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, Italy. The first painting (now lost) that Caravaggio produced was rejected because it depicted St. Matthew as a rustic and rather simple looking figure. But the second version – which we say in the chapel today – is a triumph of Caravaggio’s realistic theatrical style.