studio moments

Making of 'Matthew and the Angel', a Mastercopy of the Caravaggio painting that doesn't exist any more.

I created this using found images. Watch to the end to see it at its best once being varnished. Caravaggio painted 'Saint Matthew and the Angel' (1602) as a commission for the Contarelli Chapel. In 1945 it was destroyed in a fire in Berlin. Now the painting is only known from black-and-white photographs (and enhanced colour reproductions).

The piece was rejected by the the church so Caravaggio painted another more glorifying picture 'The Inspiration of Saint Matthew' which remains in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome still today.

The painting is painted in oils on linen and measures 105 cm x 80 cm. To see the full and finished piece please visit studies in my galleries