Pope Francis and Caravaggio

Caravaggio’s Calling of St. Matthew was Pope Francis’ favorite painting. He even had a replica of it in the Vatican. As a cardinal, he would often contemplate it in situ, in the Contarelli Chapel of San Luigi dei Francesi, near Piazza Navona. What drew Francis to this painting? Was it his mercy for the artist’s sinful ways and bad boy reputation, well-earned with a murder conviction? Or perhaps Caravaggio’s incarceration resonated with the pope’s ministry for those in prison. The Italian title of the painting brings us closer to what might have captivated Francis: Vocazione di San Matteo, the Vocation of St. Matthew.

Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew, detail, 1599-1600, Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome. Photo Gerriann Brower.

In a 2023 address to artists, he likened then to visionaries and prophets. He said art “brings something new into the world unprecedented.”  He recognized the special relationship the Catholic church had and has with artists over millennia. What intrigued the pope was the relationship between the viewer and the art, the contemplation and close observation. “In the encounter of art, boundaries become more fluid and the limits of our experience and understanding broaden.”

The dramatic nature of the Calling, or Vocation, immediately captivates the viewer, particularly the hand of Jesus pointing to Matthew. Tax collectors are counting their coins, and in walks Jesus. Three of the men turn to look at Jesus. Caravaggio places Jesus in the corner of the room, partially in the shadows while light illuminates his hand. The message is to be open to the call, to God’s message.

The extended hand recalls Michelangelo’s Adam as he reaches out to touch God in the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Surely Caravaggio was familiar with the fresco completed nearly one hundred years before the Calling of St. Matthew. Caravaggio paints a shadow from the window above Jesus in a diagonal that accentuates his gesture. Matthew points to himself, then makes a move towards the coins on the table. “Me? It can’t be.” Caravaggio captures the disbelief, the calling, and the vocation. The setting is about as basic as one can get – a seventeenth century tavern, the type the artist frequented, got into fights, brandished his sword, and made enemies.

The Contarini Chapel in Rome has two other paintings by Caravaggio. The Calling is the first of three on the left. The Inspiration of St. Matthew is in the center of the chapel. Matthew has undertaken the task of writing his version of Jesus’ life and teaching. As he writes the gospel an angel (a ghost writer/muse) appears to assist with a white garment swirling suspended in space. Barefoot and solitary, Matthew’s red-orange robe contrasts dramatically with the dark background. The painting was shocking when it was revealed – saints were not to be depicted so ordinary and barefoot.

Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew, The Inspiration of St. Matthew, The Martyrdom of St. Matthew, 1599-1600, Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome.

Photos Gerriann Brower.

To the right of the Inspiration is the Martyrdom of St. Matthew. Onlookers recoil in horror as a man grabs Matthew’s arm in preparation to wield his sword. The crowded, chaotic scene is a masterpiece of chiaroscuro, the dramatic contrast of light and dark. Matthew is helpless on the ground. Matthew’s hand is raised up, the same one he gestured towards himself in disbelief. He's not reaching to defend himself, but to reach towards something the angel hanging over the cloud has in his hands. The angel leans over a mystical cloud to hand Matthew a palm branch, the sign of martyrdom.

I wasn't surprised when I heard Caravaggio’s visual language appealed to the pontiff. Caravaggio painted a Madonna, not on a throne, but barefoot, with dirty feet. Caravaggio’s subjects were Romans, gritty, far from perfect, and sometimes poor. The artist was imperfect in many ways. He didn’t appear to be religious, perhaps he was not even a believer. He was a sinner, a murderer, who lived and died in exile on the run. Francis, in his address to Vatican artists, reminded them that “Art can never serve as an anesthetic; it brings peace, but far from deadening consciences, it keeps them alert.”

A final note. Francis was ordained into the Society of Jesus, commonly referred to as the Jesuits. The arts play a vital role in their order, to promote the faith, teaching, and as a means to bring people closer to God. From the time their order was officially recognized in the sixteenth century until today, the Society of Jesus connected their educational mission with the visual and literary arts, as well as architecture. Their founder, Ignatius of Loyola, prayed in the presence of paintings every day. Caravaggio’s paintings of St. Matthew were completed about twenty years after the papal recognition of the Society of Jesus.