theologian insisted that the nudity of angels signi¿ ed their freedom from
earthly contamination. The angel has his back to us; his left wing divides the
composition vertically. The left side of the painting is dense and physical.
Joseph and the ass are compact, the materials
of robes and baggage are thick, and the space
is compressed. This is the earthly side, which is
balanced by the À uid, spiritual zone on the right.
The angel’s right wing leads to the Madonna
and child. Mary sits sleeping, holding the child,
illuminated by the evening sky.
The landscape consists of a ¿ eld, trees, and
a tangle of leaves and grass; it seems to be an
expression of Mary’s dreaming, representing a
safe haven from danger. In other representations
of this subject, angels often accompany the
family and sometimes offer food. Only in Caravaggio’s do they offer music.
Contemporary music lovers would have known that the score that the angel
plays is a motet in honor of the Virgin Mary, composed by a Franco-Flemish
composer named Noël Bauldewijn and published in 1519.
An early commission that distinguished Caravaggio was the Contarelli
Chapel (c. 1599–1602) in the church of S. Luigi dei Francesi. This is the
church of the French nation in Rome and the chapel of the Contarelli family.
Its decoration was commissioned by Matteo Contarelli (Matteu Cointrel), a
French cardinal, who died in 1585 before any work had been done. In 1591,
his heirs commissioned an artist to fresco the chapel, but only the vault was
completed. In 1599, Caravaggio was commissioned to paint the side pictures
in oil.
Caravaggio painted alla prima, directly on the canvas, without the use
of preparatory drawings transferred to the canvas for painting. He made
changes, as he worked, and some of those are visible through the thin paint
surface today. Reappearances of a ¿ rst design are known as pentimenti,
Italian for “repentances.” St. Matthew and the Angel was a painting done
for the altarpiece, which was commissioned last. The artist’s ¿ rst rendition
was rejected, passed on to a collector, and eventually destroyed in Berlin
Caravaggio painted
alla prima, directly
on the canvas,
without the use
of preparatory
drawings
transferred to the
canvas for painting.