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Saint Matthew

ca. 1624–26
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
Matthew is shown with his emblem, an angel, who indicates an important passage. The model for the evangelist reappears in Dream of Saint Joseph, on view in this gallery, as well as in other paintings. Valentin here gives to naturalist painting the authority of the great works of the Renaissance or, vice versa, gives to the elevated style of Renaissance painting a quality of human vulnerability. Together with Saint Mark, also on view here, and two companion pictures of the other evangelists, this painting—cleaned for the exhibition—was chosen by Louis XIV to decorate his chamber at Versailles, which it still does; it has been lent exceptionally.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Saint Matthew
  • Artist: Valentin de Boulogne (French, Coulommiers-en-Brie 1591–1632 Rome)
  • Date: ca. 1624–26
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 47 1/4 × 57 1/2 in. (120 × 146 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings