'The Calling Of Saint Matthew' By Michelangelo

Sometime in the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Baroque era began and artists started creating artwork using a style that stemmed from Mannerism, and like Mannerism, it had a dynamic and exuberant style that created intense and emotionally stimulating pieces of artwork. The Baroque art style, while similar to Mannerism, is more realistic, religiously themed, and intelligible. The differences in the two styles were a result of artists being comfortable painting such luxuriant artworks and they agreed with the requirements that were inaugurated by the Council of Trent in the mid sixteenth century (Sayre 324). A well-known painting from the Baroque period, that inspired many alike, was the “The Calling of Saint Matthew” painted by Michelangelo
“The Calling of Saint Matthew” was commissioned by Cardinal del Monte for the Contarelli Chapel in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi. In this scene, Jesus has walked into a customs house, with Saint Peter, and has noticed that Levi is in his seat. Jesus told Levi to follow him, and so Levis rose and followed Jesus. Caravaggio depicts Levi and his assistants in clothing of his day and doing something ordinary, such as counting money, so that his audience could identify themselves with them (Sayre 328). The consideration of how ordinary the group looks gives the viewer the understanding that the transformation of Levi into Saint Matthew is a miracle of itself. Sayre says, just as Levi’s transformation is a miracle, the light is a reference to: “I am the light of the world; he that follow me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8: 12). By knowing Biblical context, viewers can look at “The Calling of Saint Matthew” and recognize that they, like Levi, who are ordinary, can be saved from darkness and walk in the light. In the way Caravaggio portrays the light, revealing the scene and its details, he conveys his belief of the power of faith and how it changes the way we see the world and how we choose to behave in it (Sayre
Light is the most dramatic element in this painting, it helps brings complexity, emotion, and visual importance. Many Baroque painters sought to manipulate light to intensify the viewers experience of their artwork. Caravaggio used a technique called tenebrism (variable contrasts of light and dark) to give the painting spatial depth and to dramatize the scene within. The beam of light that streams in from the upper right of the painting, from an unseen window, illuminates the room and all the figures within, giving the painting a sense of spatial depth and space being taken up (Sayre 329). In addition of the light giving the painting a realistic and dramatic feel, the light allows the viewer to assume that there is an unseen window that leads to an unseen world of which Jesus and Saint Peter had arrived from. The faces of Levi and his assistants further aid in conveying the existence of a world beyond the room by their looks and gestures of confusion and unawareness; which helps imply that Jesus and Saint Peter were not in the room with them a moment before (Sayre 328). This unseen world in the painting is a feature of Baroque art called an invisible complement which helps the painting not appear self-contained (Sayre 327). One other influence that light has within “The Calling of Saint Matthew” is the visual importance