Saint Matthew and the Angel

Saint Matthew and the Angel (1622), in the Capitoline Museums in Rome, depicts the evangelist receiving divine inspiration from an angel as he writes his Gospel — the traditional iconography for representations of Matthew at work. Guercino treats this subject with the bold tenebrism and naturalistic immediacy of his early dramatic style, the angel's luminous presence creating striking light contrasts. The painting was produced during Guercino's brief Roman period under Pope Gregory XV (1621-23), when the Bolognese pope's patronage brought the artist to the papal capital. Guercino's early Roman works represent the peak of his dramatic style before he modulated toward the more balanced classicism of his later career.

The angel's descent and Matthew's startled reception are rendered with Guercino's youthful energy, the bold contrasts of light and shadow and the dynamic diagonal composition characteristic of his early Roman works.