Shop art print and framed art Saint Matthew and the Angel (detail) by Caravaggio

Saint Matthew and the Angel (1602) is a painting from the Italian master Caravaggio (1571–1610), completed for the Contarelli Chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. It was destroyed in Berlin in 1945 and is now known only from black-and-white photographs and enhanced color reproductions. Caravaggio was known for painting very realistically, using models instead of standard convention and idealization. He made his figures lifelike and relatable, as opposed to portraying unrealistic or phony poses. In this instance, however, the patrons wanted an idealization of the beloved Saint, someone who its viewers could admire and strain to be like. They did not want a bumbling peasant who looked as if he just walked in off the street. With the angel sweeping down and the Saint's stool teetering in movement, it is arguably one of Caravaggio's earliest examples of his dynamic style. It was a much more exciting composition than the first. Even though Caravaggio changed the composition to suit the desires of the patron, you can still see his own style under the more refined subject of Saint Matthew. Saint Matthew and the angel was completed in 1602. A part of the collection of the former Kaiser Friedrich Museum, it was moved to a flak tower for safety, but destroyed by fire at the end of World War II while stored in an anti-aircraft bunker in Berlin. This work, by a pillar of the Baroque movement, might have provided new information about the artist and patron. [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the classical period. It belongs to the baroque style.

 

Find the full description of Saint Matthew and the Angel (detail) by Caravaggio on Wikipedia.