Art History Minute: The Martyrdom of St. Matthew by Caravaggio || Baroque Painting

Welcome back to the Accessible Art History YouTube channel. In this week's episode of Art History Minute, I'm discussing a work by one of the most famous artists of the Baroque era. Caravaggio is known for his extreme use of light and dark called tenebrism. To see it in action, keep on watching. This painting is titled The Martyrdom of St. Matthew. It is part of a series that Caravaggio painted for the Contarelli Chapel in the church of San Luigi de Francesche in Rome. The other two paintings are The Famous Calling of St. Matthew and The Inspiration of St. Matthew. It shows the disciple at the moment of his death on the orders of the king of Ethiopia. According to the story, the king lusted after his own niece and had been rebuked by St. Matthew because the girl had become a nun under his tutelage. The center part of the scene is where all the action takes place. The king's servant is about to deliver the death blow. Matthew's body is twisted, a signature of Caravaggio's, as he looks up at his killer. An angel reaches down from heaven to pass him a palm branch. This is the traditional symbol of martyrdom in Christianity. The chaos of the scene combined with the use of tenebrism makes this a classic Caravaggio work. If you look closely at the background, there's a figure staring out at the viewer. It's a self-portrait of the artist. In this work, Caravaggio uses tenebrism to masterfully capture the moment of a disciple's martyrdom. It's both gut-wrenching and inspirational.