Saint Matthew

Matthew the Evangelist and tax collector was one of the most painted apostle figures of the Baroque period, particularly after Caravaggio's definitive treatments in Rome established a template combining humble origins with divine inspiration. Procaccini's undated Saint Matthew, held at the Musei di Strada Nuova in Genoa, belongs to the tradition of large-format apostle figures intended either for altarpieces or for the kind of private devotional series popular among noble collectors. The Musei di Strada Nuova — comprising the Palazzi Rosso, Bianco, and Tursi along Genoa's grand Renaissance street — preserves major works reflecting the taste of Genoese merchant princes who collected ambitiously in the early seventeenth century. Procaccini's Matthew would have been prized for its combination of Lombard solidity with the narrative animation that distinguished him from more static contemporaries.

Oil on canvas; the composition likely shows Matthew with his gospel or an angel — the standard iconographic pairing that signals divine inspiration of the written text. Procaccini models the figure with the sculptural volumetry of his training, contrasting the rough texture of the evangelist's garment with the refined treatment of the face.