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A Caravaggio Panorama
The church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, Italy is a festival of Caravaggios
France's national church in Rome is—like its neighbor Sant'Agostino—an unmissable stop for
Caravaggio
fans, for the last chapel on the left (coin-gobbling lights) houses his famous
St. Matthew cycle
of paintings. These huge canvases depict, on the left,
The Calling of St. Matthew,
the best of the three and amply illustrating Caravaggio's mastery of light and shadow to create mood and drama; on the right
The Martyrdom of St. Matthew;
and in the center, over the altar,
St. Matthew and the Angel.
Interestingly, that scene with the angel inspiring St. Matthew to write his Gospel is not the one Caravaggio had originally painted for the chapel. The church objected to that first version, which showed the saint as a rough, illiterate peasant, the angel directly guiding his hand as he wrote. A wise collector not affiliated with the church bought that version (which has, sadly, since been destroyed), but its legacy appears here—Matthew’s stool tips over the edge of the painting, as though about to tumble onto the altar.
Before you leave, check out the
Domenichino frescoes
in the second chapel on the right aisle.
Piazza San Luigi dei Francesi 3 (just east of Piazza Navona)
Closed Thursdays
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This article was last updated in January 2007. All information was accurate at the time.
Copyright © 1998–2008 by Reid Bramblett. All rights reserved.
