TWENTY SAINTS IN TWENTY DAYS: PART 3 – ST MATTHEW

Title: St Matthew and the Angel
Artist: Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 93 x 125 cm
Date: c. 1534
Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

TWENTY SAINTS IN TWENTY DAYS: PART 3 – ST MATTHEW

St. Matthew, the son of Alpheus (Mark 2:14) was a Galilean, and a tax-gatherer at Capharnaum. He collected custom duties for Herod Antipas, and, although a Jew, was despised by the Pharisees, who hated all publicans. When summoned by Jesus, Matthew followed Him and tendered Him a feast in his house, where tax-gatherers and sinners sat at table with Christ and His disciples. This drew a protest from the Pharisees whom Jesus rebuked in these consoling words: "I came not to call the just, but sinners". No further allusion is made to Matthew in the Gospels, except in the list of the Apostles. As a disciple and Apostle he therefore would have followed Christ, accompanying Him up to the time of His Passion and, and was one of the witnesses of His Resurrection and Ascension. Of Matthew's subsequent career we have only inaccurate or legendary data. St. Irenæus tells us that Matthew preached the Gospel among the Hebrews, St. Clement of Alexandria claiming that he did this for fifteen years before going into Gentile nations.

In the St Matthew and the Angel, an angel appears in the darkness to inspire the seated evangelist. Strangely distorting light and shadows play across their drapery and faces, the result of illumination from a small oil lamp placed like a footlight on the table below and in front of them. In the dark recesses at the right two men attend to a seated figure. Flames and sparks from the fireplace throw the three figures into relief, catching St Matthew's hands and face with their light, but consigning the rest of his body to near total darkness. At the far left four small figures wander along a moonlit street. Matthew's peasant's hands, rumpled clothes, contorted neck, and slightly scruffy beard all contribute to the immediacy of the scene, so convincingly real as to be unsettling.

Girolamo Savoldo, also called Girolamo da Brescia (c. 1480 – after 1548) was an Italian High Renaissance painter. Active mainly in Venice, his output was small and his career is said to have been unsuccessful, but he is now remembered as a highly attractive minor master whose work stands somewhat apart from the main Venetian tradition. He carefully studied the effects of light and reflections in a way that was most unusual for the time, and had links to the current of realism and acute psychological portrayal. The exact date of Savoldo's death is not known: in 1548 he was cited as still living in Venice, though vecchione ("Very old").

The Transfiguration

Title: The Transfiguration

Artist: Cornelis Monsma

Medium: Oil on canvas panel

Size: 76 x 96 cm

Date: 2006

Location: Private collection

The seventh miracle account that displays Jesus' power over nature is recorded in Luke 9:28-36. This miracle is known as the Transfiguration.

About eight days later Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. Peter and the others had fallen asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him. As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, “Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three tabernacles — one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But even as he was saying this, a cloud overshadowed them, and terror gripped them as the cloud covered them. Then a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.” When the voice finished, Jesus was there alone. They didn’t tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

Cornelis Monsma, a modern day, self-professed expressionist visual artist, seeks to create modern Christian art work that “aims to visualize the deeper truth of Christianity.” Biblical inspiration has produced colorful contemporary artwork, with an expressionist, abstract flavor. Monsma, Friesian-Dutch born, resides in New Zealand and is inspired by the paintings and colors of Marc Chagall. More artwork can be viewed on the website http://www.monsmart.com/

Title: Transfiguration

Artist: Girolamo Savoldo

Medium: Oil on Wood

Size: 139 x 126 cm

Date: c. 1520

Location: Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

The disciples are trying to come to grips with what is happening. In their view Jesus is another great figure, like Moses and Elijah. He will found a people like Moses and sustain them through hope like Elijah. So Peter suggests they together celebrate Tabernacles, a feast that looked forward to the eschaton. Peter wants to enjoy the moment and prolong it in celebration. He wants to stay on the mountaintop for as long as possible. But Luke makes it clear that Peter has spoken because he did not know what he was saying. The voice from heaven explains: they need to listen to Jesus so they will understand his uniqueness, call and destiny to suffer. Also, as their role is not merely to contemplate Jesus but to serve him. Celebration awaits in the future, but now is a time for instruction, response and action. There is the divine voice, which stops all discussion between the disciples and Jesus, and there is the central instruction to listen to Jesus. The point in both cases is that instruction is needed, because the path Jesus walks is unexpected.

Girolamo Savoldo, also called Girolamo da Brescia (c. 1480 – after 1548) was an Italian High Renaissance painter. Active mainly in Venice, his output was small and his career is said to have been unsuccessful, but he is now remembered as a highly attractive minor master whose work stands somewhat apart from the main Venetian tradition. He carefully studied the effects of light and reflections in a way that was most unusual for the time, and had links to the current of realism and acute psychological portrayal.

Christ with Joseph of Arimathea

Title: Christ with Joseph of Arimathea

Artist: Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo

Medium: Oil on wood

Size: 105 x 192 cm

Date: c. 1525

Location: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland.

According to the Gospels, Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy Israelite, a good and a just man who was looking for the kingdom of God. He is described by St. Mark a bouleutes, literally, "a senator", whereby is meant a member of the Sanhedrin or supreme council of the Jews. He was a disciple of Jesus, probably ever since Christ's first preaching in Judea, but he did not declare himself as such. On account of this allegiance to Jesus, he did not consent to His condemnation by the Sanhedrin, and was most likely absent from the meeting which sentenced Jesus to death. The crucifixion of his Master quickened Joseph's faith and love.

In this painting, aside from an amorphous, cloudy sky, Savoldo eliminated the background entirely and reduced the narrative to the two monumental figures, brought to the front of the picture plane. These qualities surely had a great impact on Caravaggio, who initially trained in Northern Italy, where Savoldo spent his career. This work originally hung over a large altarpiece, which explains the unusual perspective, the panel’s horizontal shape, and the figures’ position above the viewer.

Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo, also called Girolamo da Brescia (c. 1480-1485 – c. 1548) was an Italian High Renaissance painter. Savoldo was born in Brescia, but little is known about his early years. By 1506 he was in Parma, and by 1508, he had joined the Florentine painter’s guild. Savoldo may have spent some years of his life in Milan. He had a Dutch wife. The exact date of Savoldo's death is not known: in 1548 he was cited as still living in Venice, though vecchione ("Very old").

Mary Magdalene Approaching the Tomb

Title: Mary Magdalene Approaching the Tomb

Artist: Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo

Medium: Oil on canvas

Size: 89.1 x 82.4 cm

Date: c. 1535-40

Location: The National Gallery, London.

On the Sunday morning after the Crucifixion, Mary Magdalene visited the tomb of Jesus, but found it empty. The story is recounted in the Gospel of John 20:11-16, and Mary Magdalene is here identified by the pot of ointment with which she anointed Christ's body, and by the glimpse of her traditional red dress beneath a silver-grey cloak. She was the first person to see Christ after the Resurrection.

In Savoldo’s depiction of these events Mary Magdalene looks up, as if disturbed while grieving. At the left edge of the painting, as part of a background that appears to represent Venice and its lagoon, there is the glow of the sunrise on the eastern horizon. And although the sun should rise in the east, the viewer is struck by the incongruity of the flood of bright, white light that strikes Mary’s shimmering robe from the right. The light that shines on Mary more intensely than the sun is meant to announce the presence of the risen, glorified Messiah. The moment shown here may be the moment when He calls her by name, and she recognizes her Lord.

Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo was born in Brescia. In 1508 he was in Florence, but thereafter he was mainly in Venice (except for a visit to Milan, 1532-4). His output was not great. His pictures are mostly of single figures against landscape backgrounds. The draperies of the figures are usually the most striking element, showing the light on the reflective textiles. Some of his pictures, such as 'Mary Magdalene' are known in a number of versions. The three principal Brescian painters—Moretto, Romanino, and Savoldo—would have a profound impact on Italian art thanks to their influence on a young artist born in the region later in the century: Caravaggio, who admired their approach to sacred painting, with its deliberately humble, earthy character.