The Calling of Saint Matthew

The Calling of Saint Matthew was the quintessential Caravaggist subject, forever associated with Caravaggio’s revolutionary 1600 canvas in San Luigi dei Francesi. Stom’s 1629 interpretation, now at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, was painted during his Roman years when the original was still the most talked-about painting in the city. Every Caravaggist measured himself against this subject, and Stom’s version reimagines it through his distinctive candlelit naturalism.

Diagonal light cuts across the tax collectors’ table, isolating the moment of Christ’s summons. Stom differentiates each figure’s response through subtle variations in how light falls on their faces.