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De roeping van Mattheus Hendrick ter Brugghen, 1621 https://www.centraalmuseum.nl/en/collection/5088-de-roeping-van-mattheus-hendrick-ter-brugghen https://www.centraalmuseum.nl/@@site-logo/logo-left-v2.svg

De roeping van Mattheus

Hendrick ter Brugghen, 1621
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Like so many artists in his time, Hendrick ter Brugghen travelled to Italy where he saw the work by Caravaggio (1571-1610). Inspired by the wondrous beauty of the work, he returned to Utrecht in 1614. In the years that followed he established a reputation as the most gifted and original of the north-Netherlandish Caravaggisti, as these followers of Caravaggio were known. His masterpiece The calling of Saint Matthew unmistakably bears the stamp of the Italian grand master.


Ter Brugghen painted two versions of The calling of Saint Matthew. The immediate example for both works is the large piece that Caravaggio painted around 1600 for the Contarelli chapel of the San Luigi dei Francesi church in Rome. This painting was an immediate success upon its completion. Ter Brugghen adopted Caravaggio’s choice for the most dramatic moment of the story, as well as his arrangement of the figures around a table. The realistic rendering of the faces also reveals Caravaggio’s influence.


What Ter Brugghen did not adopt is the dramatic illumination of the scene. It is particularly the strong light-dark contrasts, a style known as chiaroscuro, to which Caravaggio thanked his fame. Ter Brugghen also did not portray his figures full-sized, as did Caravaggio, but as half-figures. The foreground has been omitted, making the composition more compact. Finally, Ter Brugghen’s use of colour differs from Caravaggio. Whereas the Italian painter opts for warm brown shades, Ter Brugghen juxtaposes blue and violet, and pink next to creamy white tones. Ter Brugghen’s gentle illumination has no hint of Italian drama, but instead exudes cool northern harmony. It imparts to the painting the silver-like glow that has made it so famous.


The calling of Saint Matthew is about Christ that appoints a toll collector as an apostle. Ter Brugghen painted precisely the moment of the calling. The work therefore belongs among a series of paintings dedicated to the theme of conversion or a sudden religious insight. Particularly during the first half of the seventeenth century, there was a strong demand among Catholic circles for paintings with this theme. It was the period in which the clandestine churches were being decorated, following their establishment from the year 1581 on, after the Reformation had banned Catholic services.

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Title

De roeping van Mattheus

Artist

Hendrick ter Brugghen (Den Haag (?) 1588 - 1629 Utrecht)

Dating

1621

Material and technique

olieverf op doek

Object number

5088

Object type

schilderij

Acquisition

aankoop met steun van de Vereniging Rembrandt 1925

Dimensions

hoogte 102.3 cm
breedte 136.9 cm
hoogte (met lijst) 129.2 cm
breedte (met lijst) 162.6 cm

Inscriptions and markings

  • signatuur en datering m.o. (op tafelrand) (met verf): HTBrugghen fecit.i62i [HTB aaneen]

More of the same motive

historie, Mattheus (heilige), N.T.

Documentation

  • Caravage à Rome : amis et ennemis, auteurs Arnauld Brejon de Lavergnée ... [et al.], (Vereniging Rembrandt, 28, 3, najaar 2018), p. 57

Exhibitions

  • Collectieopstelling 2023 - zaal 06, Centraal Museum
  • Utrecht, Caravaggio and Europe, Alte Pinakothek
  • Utrecht, Caravaggio en Europa, Centraal Museum

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Persistent url

To refer to this object please use the following persistent URL: https://hdl.handle.net/21.12130/collect.D2DBCEFC-2677-4C7B-88D1-6250DD70BA8C

Questions?

Do you have a remark or extra information on this object? Please let us know!

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