Caravaggio
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This painting is almost all darkness with one hard beam of light, and a muddy copy loses both. We graded our Calling of St Matthew print side by side with the original, so the faces at the table catch the light, the blacks stay deep and Christ’s hand still reaches across the gloom. It is the Calling of St Matthew painting as Rome sees it in San Luigi dei Francesi.
Canvas, framed or paper
Stretched canvas. Printed on cotton canvas and stretched taut over a frame. The edges are mirror-wrapped, so the picture continues around the sides and none of it is lost to the fold.
Framed canvas. The same canvas, set in a black, white, natural wood or dark wood frame 0.83 in deep. The frame gives the work a finished edge and a little more presence on the wall.
Framed print. Printed on fine art matte paper and framed in solid pine, behind shatterproof plexiglass, in black, white, natural wood or dark wood. It arrives ready to hang. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame.
Fine art print. Printed on 310gsm fine art matte paper, for framing your own way. It travels rolled and protected. From 18x24 inch.
Sizes
16x16 inch, 20x20 inch, 24x24 inch, 30x30 inch. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.
On your wall
Its near-square shape suits a dining room, a study or a long hallway wall, and at 30x30 inch it holds the room. The golds and deep browns sit well with oxblood, olive and walnut, and a black or dark wood frame keeps the shadows deep.
About the painting
The Calling of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio
Rome, 1599
A French cardinal had left money in his will for a chapel of scenes from the life of Saint Matthew. In July 1599 the commission went to Caravaggio, a poor painter from Milan with powerful friends. It was his first painting for a church, and when it was unveiled he became the most talked-about painter in Rome.
“Me?”
In the Bible, Jesus sees a tax collector named Levi at his table and says, follow me. Caravaggio sets it in a dim room of his own day. Men in feathered hats count coins. Christ stands in the doorway with Peter, his feet already turned to leave, and points. A bearded man points at himself, as if to ask, me? Two men at the end of the table never look up.
The Baroque
A single beam of light falls from the upper right across the faces at the table. Christ’s outstretched hand recalls Adam’s hand on Michelangelo’s Sistine ceiling. More than four hundred years later the painting still hangs where it was made to hang, in the Contarelli Chapel of San Luigi dei Francesi.
Read the story
Caravaggio painted the moment a man was called by name, and the man can't quite believe it.
It's Rome, in 1599, and Caravaggio is twenty-eight.
Seven years earlier he arrived here poor, with no fixed address. Now a powerful friend has won him his first big job for a church: two paintings of Saint Matthew for a French chapel.
In the Bible, Jesus walks past a tax collector named Levi, sitting at his table, and says two words: follow me.
Caravaggio sets the scene in a dim room of his own day. Young men in feathered hats sit around a table, counting the day's money.
In the doorway stands Jesus, with Peter beside him. His feet are already turned to leave, but his hand reaches out across the room.
A bearded man at the table points at himself, as if to say, me?
At the end of the table, two men never look up. They just keep counting.
A single beam of light comes in from high on the right and falls across their faces, as if it followed the hand.
When the paintings are unveiled in 1600, Rome has never seen anything like them, and Caravaggio becomes the painter everyone is talking about.
More than four hundred years later, this one still hangs in the same chapel, where he painted it to hang.
Look at the young man counting coins at the end. He still hasn't looked up.
The Calling of Saint Matthew. Caravaggio, 1600.
How each piece is brought to life
Faithful to the original, and made to be felt on your wall.
Graded against the original
We compare every work with the original as we grade it, keeping the artist’s colours true while bringing back their depth and glow. Every mark stays the artist’s own.
Printed for you
Printed to order on cotton canvas or fine art paper, then framed if you chose a frame, in 1 to 3 business days.
On your wall
It arrives 5 to 12 business days later, tracked and free anywhere in the US. Framed pieces come ready to hang.
Questions
Is this the original painting?
No. The original hangs in a museum. What you receive is a fine art reproduction, remastered from the original and printed for you, with every mark where the artist left it.
Will the colour look flat?
This is where most reproductions disappoint, and it is where we spend the most time. Each work is graded side by side with the original: faithful to the artist’s colours, with the depth and warmth brought back, so it moves you on the wall the way it was meant to. Canvas reads a touch softer than a backlit screen, and every screen shows colour a little differently.
Will the edges be cropped?
Each size is a standard frame size, so we fit the painting by trimming a little from its edges. We never stretch or squash it, and we check every size by eye so no face, figure or signature is cut. On canvas the edges are mirror-wrapped, which keeps the whole picture on the front.
Which size is right for my wall?
Aim for about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Over a sofa or a sideboard, one of the two largest sizes will hold the wall. The size guide lists every size in inches and centimetres, with the kind of wall each one suits.
How long does it take?
Your piece is printed in 1–3 business days, then spends 5–12 business days in transit, tracked all the way. Delivery is free anywhere in the US. We are unable to deliver to PO boxes.
What if it arrives damaged?
Send us a photograph and we will remake it and send it again. There is nothing to return.
Can I return it?
Yes, within 30 days of delivery. Our returns policy has the details.
From Decorify Art Stories
Which Man Is Matthew? Caravaggio's Calling of Saint Matthew
The story behind this painting: who made it, why, and what most people miss.
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Printed to order
Graded against the original, then printed for you on cotton canvas or fine art paper in 1–3 business days.
The whole painting
Every mark is the artist’s own, and canvas edges are mirror-wrapped so the whole picture stays on the front.
Free US shipping
On every order, tracked, 5–12 business days in transit.
30-day returns
Returns and exchanges within 30 days of delivery.
