St. Matthew

Frans Hals painted Saint Matthew around 1625, completing the Evangelist series that also included Saints Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew, the tax collector who became an apostle, is depicted as a mature man with the book of his Gospel and the thoughtful expression of a scholar — quite different from the conventional youthful elegance of Renaissance Evangelist figures. Hals's Matthew is characterized through his own trademark psychological directness: a specific individual face given the Evangelist's attributes rather than an ideal type condescending to bear the saint's identifying marks. The work reflects the humanizing tendency of Dutch Protestant religious art at its most engaged.

Matthew's earnest expression and the angel whispering in his ear are rendered with bold, characterful brushwork, the naturalistic treatment bringing the religious subject firmly into the realm of everyday human experience.