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The Calling of Saint Matthew

ca. 1625–30
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 620
The Neapolitan painter Caracciolo was deeply influenced by Caravaggio, who worked in Naples in 1606–7 and 1610. Among Caravaggio’s innovations were half-length narrative subjects such as this, in addition to his celebrated, bold contrasts of light and shadow. Caracciolo’s work depicts the moment when Jesus asks Matthew, an avaricious tax collector, to renounce his worldly possessions and follow him. Jesus’s gaze and outward gesture present the viewer with the same quandary as Matthew: whether to embrace Christ’s invitation or to take the money bag held within our reach at canvas’s lower edge.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Calling of Saint Matthew
  • Artist: Giovanni Battista Caracciolo (Italian, Naples 1578–1635 Naples)
  • Date: ca. 1625–30
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 51 3/8 × 61 1/2 in. (130.5 × 156.2 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, The Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund Gift, 2016
  • Object Number: 2016.485
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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Saint John the Baptist with a lamb, Giovanni Battista Caracciolo Italian, Etching
Saint John the Baptist with a lamb
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The Capture of Carthage, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian, Oil on canvas
The Capture of Carthage
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
1725–29
Piazza San Marco, Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Italian, Oil on canvas
Piazza San Marco
Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal)
late 1720s
The Glorification of the Barbaro Family, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian, Oil on canvas
The Glorification of the Barbaro Family
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
ca. 1750
The Battle of Vercellae, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Italian, Oil on canvas
The Battle of Vercellae
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
1725–29

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