In effect, the first hypothesis supposes that st
The calling of st The table of St Matthew and the Angel is placed in a position of altarpiece central, and on the right side wall of the chapel is located the Martyrdom of saint MatthewContarelli, who had left detailed instructions on the way of composing the table, does not live to the completion of the works that he had ordered: he died in. In the right part of the table stand two characters in the clothes of biblical times. Jesus that one recognizes in particular, its halo has the arm extended and his hand is stretched out to Matthew. His foot turned to the outside of the piece seems to indicate that he is already on the point of leaving. Near it is a Stone that does not see face to his back, mask largely the person of Jesus. Only the hand is visible, which accompanies discreetly, the gesture of the Christ.
The faces express reactions and feelings different
The accurate identification of st Matthew is still the subject of some controversy. Matthew would be the man with the beard, sitting at the center of the canvas that is art-even of a finger, and whose face is turned towards Christ. It expresses, therefore, a certain disbelief and his mouth between-open suggests that he asks:"Is it really me that called."There are, however, problems with this reading. It is true that the light on the means particularly well, but this light is far to stop only to this figure. Moreover, it is clearly stipulated in the contract order which has been issued to the Caravaggio by cardinal, that Matthew must be painted in the process of counting the money. Following this idea, Matthew would rather the young man sitting at the far end of the table, head bent, absorbed by his task.
Over his shoulder, the old usurer, the glasses in the hand (symbol of avarice) is reminiscent of the table also Caravaggio title Saint Matthew and The Angel in which the figure of the angel is replaced here by the old man, guiding Matthew in his work.
There is then a sort of echo of formal: from where you found the loan shark, there is the angel many years later that whisper in the ear of st. Matthew, the word of god Therefore, to return to the man located in the center of the canvas, point rather to the young man sitting at the far end, and his lips ajar would ask the opposite:"Christ, is this really him you want."The part where all the characters is dark: a few jets of light and colour only to be found on the clothes and the few faces which are not immersed in the penumbra. The light mainly comes from the upper-right part of the table. It is positioned so to refer directly to the window located in the architecture of the chapel. It is a form of in situ, but also of a union between the place physical and the canvas so that the two are one.
Creates a chiaroscuro effect in the table, characteristic of the work of Caravaggio.
The composition is divided between the left-hand part, a group of five people around a table on which money account (with book and inkwell).
they are richly dressed in clothes contemporary to Caravaggio (similar to the compositions of the Cheaters, or The fortune-teller).
Two dealers, including an old man are decked out in their task. The two men to his right to direct their actions towards the one that Jesus refers to in a sign of disbelief.
Following these gestures up to the left of the table, we note the young man with the head bowed, concentrated, counting his money.
Everything in the work is referred to as Matthew, the beam of light oblique to the hand of Jesus stretched out to him. The other two characters, to the right, looking at the visitors, one of a glance rather mocking, but mostly perplexed, the other is fascinated to the point of having the body fully turned to the visitors, her legs astride the bench, oblivious to what he was doing.
In the right part of the table: Jesus and Peter in the clothes of their era (giving a character a trans-historical at the scene, and the very idea of vocation).
They are bare feet.
Christ's entry into the room has nothing to dazzling. It just came out of the shadows. The outstretched arm, he reaches out his hand and made a gesture, which is the exact reflection of that of Adam receiving life from God in the table of Michel-Angel. The creation is extended into a vocation. The figure of the apostle Peter (added later) symbolizes the presence of the Church, close to Christ and accompanying the gesture of appeal, while remaining in the background. However, the table shows a Church that obscures the call also: of Peter one does not see the face, but only a back that hides a large part of the person of Jesus. Peter is between the viewer and Christ."Jesus departed from thence, and saw, in passing, a man, named Matthew, sitting at his office of tax collector. He said to him:"follow me."The man stood up and followed him."Around a table, on which are placed an inkstand, a stock exchange and of coins, several characters are sitting: to the left, a young man is busy.
It counts the coins, under the watchful eye of an older man.
The other three characters are seated, a middle-aged man and two young men, have migrated accounting operations: they are turned to the right, toward another group of two men standing, who were just arriving and who point the finger. But that mean-they The shadow of which they arise, play the eyes and hands do not permit to be affirmative. Without a doubt, one of the two men standing in that door a discreet halo-edge-t-he is the one who, seated, seems to be pointing to himself, while the second man standing refers to one who, in the first plan, seems to be ready to get up. The artist skillfully plays with the contrast between the left part of the table, refined look, which is reminiscent of secular works like The Cheats or The fortuneteller, and the right part is more restrained and stripped down where to evolve, bare feet, Jesus and saint Peter. The whole composition is based on a deliberate ambiguity, to a game of contrasts, where nothing is determined if this is, to the left, the condemnation implicit in the world of money and, to the right, the celebration of the evangelical requirement. In the Nineteenth century, the French painter Gustave Courbet is inspired by the Vocation to achieve The After-dining at Ornans: a theme a lot more trivial, the composition as the work on light and shade are based on the work of Caravaggio.
