Artworks

San Matteo e l'angelo

Artwork · No. 2 in Ciclo di san Matteo · Caravaggio · 1602 · versions

The altarpiece of the Contarelli Chapel, in two versions. The San Matteo e l'angelo (prima versione) was installed on 26 May 1602 and replaced by the San Matteo e l'angelo (seconda versione) in February 1603. Whether the first was rejected for an “irreverent” saint, as Giovanni Baglione wrote, is doubted: it may only have been hung for a while until the altar was finished. Vincenzo Giustiniani bought it; it is known today only from photographs.