Calling of Saint Matthew, Jesus points at St. Matthew sitting at a table of men playing a game with coins at a table., c. 1620

Vanderbilt photo identifier: SC.MSS.088.DUTC.0652; Public Notes: From the Malraux Museum: The Calling of Saint Matthew, painted by Caravaggio in 1599–1600 for the Contarelli Chapel in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, inspired three of ter Brugghen’s compositions. The work in Le Havre, undoubtedly painted around 1620, borrows from the Italian master the motif of Christ calling Levi, the tax collector who becomes Saint Matthew, to abandon everything and join the apostles. The gesture of Christ, the surprise of Matthew, the postures of his plebeian-looking companions and the contrasted lighting of the scene call to mind Caravaggio's Roman model. The dense composition, framed around the figures, the artist's interest in anecdotal details and the hardy features of the models nevertheless betray his attachment to traditional northern formulae.