" The Calling of the Apostle Matthew " , 1598 By Artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

The Calling of the Apostle Matthew by Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio

According to a long established tradition, it is the Gospel of Matthew that is read during the Christmas liturgy. On that festive eveningthe parishioners who filled the church - and among them were the two brothers Mattei with their wives and children, as well as some friends - were imbued with special reverence, listening to the words of the reading deacon, and in front of their eyes was a picture illuminated by many burning candles, telling about an important episode from the life of the first evangelist . It is known that at the gates of Capernaum Christ met the publican Levi and called him to become an apostle. But Caravaggio solves this scene from Holy Scripture in his own way. At first glance at the picture, it is difficult to determine where the action takes place. Only the window shutter on the wall - in Italian houses, as well as in Russian huts, it is always outside - indicates that the people depicted in the picture, sitting at the table after the labors of the righteous, are comfortably located in the shade in front of the tavern, which is so characteristic of Roman life in summertime,

Caravaggio is true to himself. Violating established traditions in the interpretation of the gospel story, he creates a genre scene typical of Roman street life, devoid of any hint of holiness. Everything in the picture is extremely clear, reliable and vital. The red-bearded publican or tax collector Levi counts the collected daily proceeds with the help of an old man with glasses. The bored fellow next to him stared at the surface of the table, following the fingers of the old man, who habitually counted the scattered coins.

Since it is not safe to walk around Rome with money, the publican has three young guards with weapons, dressed in the fashion of that time. One of them, saddling a bench, sits with his back to the viewer. His figure and posture are vividly reminiscent of one of the crooks in the Rounders painting, with the same obnoxious rodent profile.

For the other two guys, his young assistants Bartolomeo and Cecco posed for the artist.

All those sitting at the table are united by a closed contour, close to an oval, making up a compact group. It seemed that nothing could disturb this tranquility of the labor day, which was poured over everything, when the sweltering heat subsided and it was easier to breathe in the shade.

Suddenly, this unremarkable company of Romans seated at the table was illuminated by a divine light coming from the right as two strangers, barefoot and in the robes of Christian pilgrims, appeared from the dense shadow.

The calm painting is instantly transformed when one of those who entered - and this is Christ with a light halo over his head - silently pointed with his finger at one of the people sitting at the table. Caravaggio again refers to the image of the Savior, drawing an inspired profile. Not a condemning, but an imperious gesture of Christ evokes the outstretched hand of the god Sabaoth on Michelangelo's ceiling fresco "The Creation of Man" in the Sistine Chapel. This expressive gesture rhymes with the uncertain movement of Levi's hand and with the pointing gesture of Christ's companion. It unites both groups of characters depicted in the picture, five of which represent the earthly world stretched horizontally on the table, and two aliens in rags that appeared from the darkness are the heavenly world, directed vertically upwards.

The radiographic analysis of the picture showed that at first Christ was in the center, putting his hand on the shoulder of the publican Levi. The revealed data also help to understand what deep excitement and spiritual awe Caravaggio experienced when he painted the inspired profile of the Savior that he succeeded in, and how many times he redid what he had written until he achieved the desired result with the help of contrasting light and shade transitions.

To understand the idea and the composition as a whole, one should pay attention to something else. As the medieval writer Jacob Voraginsky explains in his well-known work The Golden Legend, the name Matthew in Greek means not only the gift of speed, but also the hand of the Lord54. It is possible that this book could have fallen into the hands of Caravaggio in the library of the Navicella Palace. For him, the key was the second meaning of the name of the apostle in the interpretation of the famous gospel story, and therefore the outstretched hand of Christ has not only a compositional, but also a deep semantic meaning. But for customers, and above all for the Roman Curia, the first meaning of the name was fundamental, associated with the hasty conversion of the French king Henry IV from a Huguenot to a Catholic, when he uttered his historical phrase that amazed all of Europe: "Paris is worth a mass." In 1598, he also signed the famous Edict of Nantes, which opened the era of religious tolerance in the new history of European culture. Pope Clement VIII celebrated a prayer service with joy and absolved the French king of all his past sins, and he had accumulated a lot of them, which was well known not only to his subjects. Such an important historical event accelerated the resolution of the protracted issue with the design of the Contarelli Chapel in the French church.

It can even be considered that Caravaggio indirectly owes the receipt of the order, which played such an important role for his future career, to King Henry IV. By a strange irony of fate (for the umpteenth time we again have to talk about mysterious and almost mystical coincidences), the lives of the French monarch and the great artist were tragically cut short almost simultaneously. The only difference is

Be that as it may, but political motives did not interest Caravaggio, and they were hardly known to him. However, with his inherent artistic instinct, he caught that the connecting element of the composition of the picture should be precisely the outstretched hand in an imperative appeal. Of all the people sitting at the table, surprised by the unexpected appearance of strangers, as if entering through a wall, only the publican Levi realized who appeared before him and what he was calling for. This silent exchange of glances and gestures conveys the true intensity of what is happening. Levi’s astonished exclamation seemed to hang in the air, poking his chest with his index finger: “Who, me?”

In the decisive look of Christ and the commanding gesture, the call to a new life is expressed. But on the face of the tax collector there is confusion - but is he, a simple publican, so unloved and despised by people whom he is forced to constantly rob with exorbitant taxes, worthy of such a high calling?

Closed, like a shield, by the powerful, thick-set figure of the Apostle Peter, Christ appeared only for a moment, only to immediately retire. It can be seen that the feet of bare feet are facing the exit. In a moment, the dumbfounded publican will rise from the table and, leaving all the collected taxes, will follow him to his great martyr's calling. Everything here is built on a contrasting opposition of base interests, vain deeds for the sake of achieving material wealth and a life devoted entirely to serving a lofty idea. This call sounded in the picture visibly and psychologically authentic.

During the first feast days of the 17th century after Great Lent, rumors about the painting spread throughout the city. Roman people flocked to San Luigi to admire the work of a newcomer, about whom legends had already been made, and many famous artists began to imitate his manner. Caravaggio was also in the overcrowded church. For the first time, he saw people crowding in front of his picture, replacing each other because of the cramped space, and eagerly listened to their voices. Exchanging opinions in a whisper, they did not take their eyes off what was happening on the canvas, the point of view of which is located at the level of a person’s eyes, and, as it were, became his accomplices, discussing with each other what was happening before their eyes in a lively and interested way.

Soon the small square in front of the church began to fill with carriages with footmen in livery. The nobility came to look at the new work, which is why the motley audience was asked to make room or wait outside. The president of the Academy of St. Luke, Federico Zuccari, came to look at the picture, accompanied by a whole retinue of his supporters, who made room for him in front of the chapel. He stood for a while in front of the canvas, and then defiantly turned his back to the picture and deliberately exclaimed loudly so that everyone present in the church could hear:

“I don’t understand just one thing, why is there so much noise ?! I see absolutely nothing special here, except for the imitation of Giorgione's style.

Shrugging his shoulders in surprise and not looking at the picture anymore, he left the church through a corridor made for him by obliging assistants in the crowd. That's when the words about the so-called influence of the Venetian master on Caravaggio were first heard, which then spread and were unanimously picked up by some researchers, including some of our art historians.

When Caravaggio was given Zuccari's opinion, he smiled and calmly remarked:

- Giorgione would be happy to paint a painting that could arouse the interest of the common people. But he didn't dream of it.

Fragment from Alexander Makhov's book "Caravaggio"

" The Calling of the Apostle Matthew " , 1598 By Artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio ( 1571 - 1610 ) , Canvas, oil. Size: 322 × 340 cm. San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome