The Calling of St. Matthew

Christ enters a gloomy counting-room and points, and a shaft of raking light follows his hand across the wall to Matthew the tax collector, who gestures at himself in disbelief - who, me? Around the table his companions bend over their coins, some not yet looking up. Caravaggio stages the call to discipleship (Matthew 9:9) as a flash of grace cutting through everyday dimness, the whole drama carried by light. Painted for the Contarelli Chapel in San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, where it still hangs, it made him famous overnight.