The masterpieces by Caravaggio enrich today our image bank in which many masterpiece can already be seen in ultra-high definition thanks to our online viewer. The Church of St. Louis of the French, in Rome, houses many pieces of art, but it is world-renowned because of the Contarelli Chapel: at the end of the left aisle, the Chapel is some kind of treasure chest, holding the three canvases dedicated to St. Matthew.
Painted between 1599 and 1602, hung from left to right these paintings follow a precise pattern narrating the history of St. Matthew: the Calling on the left, then the Saint with the Angel and, on the right, his Martyrdom. This was the first important public commission obtained by Caravaggio who for the first time had to paint huge size canvases.
Even though the artist had a very short timespan, the outcome was surprising. The whole cycle is based on chiaroscuro and a peculiar perspective applied to scenes, characteristics that made the Contarelli Chapel a unique gem in 17th-century Rome.
Thanks to Haltadefinizione’s technologies, the three masterpieces belonging to the Pieux Établissements de la France à Rome et à Lorette (Pious Establishments of France in Rome and Loreto) can now be seen as no one has ever had the chance to!
