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Saint Matthew and the Angel

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 608
Saint Matthew shares a spellbound gaze with an angel who inspires him to write his gospel. Behind are two scenes from the saint’s life: on the right he receives hospitality at the court of the queen of Ethiopia, while the event on the left is less clear. The various sources of light in the painting suggest that this was one of the works described by the biographer Giorgio Vasari as “nocturnes, with fires,” which Savoldo painted around 1534 for the head of the Milanese mint.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Saint Matthew and the Angel
  • Artist: Giovanni Gerolamo Savoldo (Italian, Brescia 1480/85–after 1548)
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 36 3/4 x 49 in. (93.4 x 124.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Marquand Fund, 1912
  • Object Number: 12.14
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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Study of a Head, Giovanni Gerolamo Savoldo Italian, Black chalk on blue paper, highlighted with white
Study of a Head
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Venus and Adonis, Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) Italian, Oil on canvas
Venus and Adonis
Titian (Tiziano Vecellio)
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The Lamentation, Ludovico Carracci Italian, Oil on canvas
The Lamentation
Ludovico Carracci
ca. 1582
The Baptism of Christ, Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo da Ponte) Italian, Oil on canvas
The Baptism of Christ
Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo da Ponte)
ca. 1590
The Entombment, Moretto da Brescia (Alessandro Bonvicino) Italian, Oil on canvas
The Entombment
Moretto da Brescia (Alessandro Bonvicino)
1554

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