Mathew Vs Caravaggio

952 Words4 Pages
Caravaggio painted “The Calling of St Mathew” between 1599-1600 during the baroque period. Caravaggio’s painting can be considered vertical. He creates space through the background, which is the wall, the middle ground, which is Jesus and the other men, and as well as the foreground, which is the man sitting with his back turned towards the audience. This paintings mood is more of a dramatic theme towards it because it depicts the exact moment Jesus calls out to Mathew. The light shows how Jesus brings light upon the darkness. Also Caravaggio’s use of light and shadows adds even more drama in this painting, it gives the audience a sort of awe moment. The whole painting is in a very dark shadow and the only light source is the shining light that comes from behind Jesus, which also helps in…show more content…
What also adds emotion to the painting is the fact that Mathew points at himself to see if Jesus is truly calling upon him. The way Jesus’ hand is portrayed is similar to that of Adams in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, due to how Jesus is believed to be the “Second Adam”. Caravaggio uses earth tones, and he brings the painting to life with vivid colors and bold contrasts of reds, yellows and greens and various textures of velvets and soft fur. He also contrasts the gestures and expressions of everyone in the painting. Caravaggio’s method of using light and shadow was studied and later copied by many other artists. Caravaggio’s art is easily recognizable due to his realism and mannerism. This is shown by how their clothing is very detailed as well as the coins upon the table. He was very precise with his painting by adding very specific detailing for example being able to see dirty fingernails to dirty feet. During the time he painted The Calling of St Mathew he was painting many other religious artwork. Another trademark of Caravaggio is his the fact that he only painted in oil on

    More about Mathew Vs Caravaggio

      Open Document