Pope Francis left a lasting legacy, not least his appreciation for art. In his 2025 biography, Hope, Francis spoke of his admiration for the Baroque painter Caravaggio. He recalled that in his travels to Rome as a cardinal, he prayed in front of the painting by Caravaggio—The Calling of Saint Matthew.
The portray is discovered within the chapel devoted to St. Matthew within the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi. The donor of the chapel was a French cardinal, Matthieu Cointerel, who died in 1585. This was the primary fee for Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, who was hired in July 1599. A 12 months later, The Calling of Saint Matthew and The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew, depicting the start and the top of the apostle Matthew’s ministry, have been put in.
The motto that Francis chosen for his papacy, “miserando atque eligendo,” translated as “ him with mercy, he selected him,” is straight related with this portray. The phrases “miserando atque eligendo” come from a sermon on the calling of Matthew written within the eighth century by the celebrated monk and historian Bede the Venerable. It’s used within the readings for the Feast of St. Matthew on September 21.
‘The Calling of Saint Matthew’
Matthew is described within the Bible as a tax collector, considered on the time as a highly dubious occupation. Within the portray, Christ enters the room from the appropriate. We see solely his silhouetted head and outstretched arm pointing in Matthew’s route.
Mild from the window behind Christ, which aligns with the precise mild from the window within the chapel, falls on a bunch of males, together with some good-looking youths in fancy garments, counting cash. Matthew, the bearded man within the middle, makes a gesture that means, “Who, me?”
Matthew turned one in every of 4 disciples of Christ—together with Mark, Luke, and John—whose accounts of Christ’s life, known as Gospels, are included within the Bible.
Francis and Jesuit coaching
Francis’s fascinated about this portray was formed by his coaching as a Jesuit, a Catholic order that he entered in 1958. Jesuits apply one thing known as a process of “discernment.” The portray represents God calling to Matthew to point out him his will for the longer term, one which requires discernment. The founding father of the order, Ignatius of Loyola, confused a humble however vigorous effort to grasp God’s will for every particular person, as a part of this course of.
Ignatius’s personal life demonstrated this seek for God’s will. His preliminary profession as a soldier ended when he was gravely wounded within the battle of Pamplona in 1521, completely damaging his leg. He subsequently tried to observe the lifetime of a hermit, meditating in solitude, after which tried to develop into a missionary to the Holy Land.
On the age of 33, he entered a college with a view to develop into a priest, finally initiating essentially the most influential transformation of non secular schooling because the Center Ages. Jesuits turned an awesome educating drive, stressing particular person examine and debate over memorization. Ignatius was named a saint in 1622.
‘The Inspiration of St. Matthew’
The central portray within the chapel, Inspiration of Saint Matthew is Caravaggio’s third portray, which was put in place in 1602. The patrons initially deliberate to put in statues on the middle, however upon their arrival they rejected the thought and commissioned Caravaggio as a substitute. This portray additionally reveals the saint looking out to grasp God’s instructions.
On this portray, Matthew is in dialog along with his image, a winged man. Every of the 4 evangelists are represented in art through symbols. The winged man image for Matthew refers back to the starting of his Gospel that information the family tree of Christ.
The angel-like determine, resembling one of many younger males depicted alongside the saint in Caravaggio’s The Calling of St. Matthew, seems to carry his left index finger along with his proper hand, as if to sign that that is the primary and most essential level. Matthew appears careworn, even distracted, struggling to jot down whereas leaning his knee on a bench.
Francis remarked in his biography that Caravaggio elevated viewers’ empathy by utilizing “up to date figures from the artist’s personal time.” The figures within the portray are wearing garments worn in Italy within the late sixteenth century, in order that the viewers in Caravaggio’s time might see themselves within the portray.
Viewers come to artwork with completely different views derived from their very own experiences and challenges. Francis, too, related to artwork by means of his personal experiences.
Virginia Raguin is a distinguished professor of humanities emerita on the College of the Holy Cross.
This text is republished from The Conversation beneath a Artistic Commons license. Learn the original article.
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