Sara Magister will today deliver a public talk in Italian on Caravaggio’s masterpiece The Calling of St Matthew.

In her talk, entitled ‘Caravaggio and St Matthew: From shadow to light – the story and meaning of the masterpieces at San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome’, she will discuss the way the painting, which Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio created in 1599-1600, and is today found in the church of St Louis of the French in Rome, immortalised and interpreted the story of St Matthew in a timeless manner.

According to the gospels, Matthew, a despicable publican, was called by Jesus to follow him. He left his former life to become an apostle and an evangelist and eventually died as a martyr.

The painting depicts Christ breaking into a 16th-century usurer’s hovel where Matthew is in the company of other four men. A beam of light illuminates the faces of the men. But who is the sinner Jesus wants?  Is it the man who turns around upset? Or the boy bent over the money?

In her talk, Magister will illustrate the way in which the ‘true’ Matthew is captured by Caravaggio while he faces his inner turmoil, reflecting how, in the crucial choice between good and evil, every man, in any era, can see a reflection of themselves.

Magister has a PhD in classical antiquities and history of modern art. She has published many articles and a monograph for the Accademia dei Lincei regarding its Renaissance collection. She has recently been focusing her attention on Caravaggio, and her book Caravaggio. Il Vero Matteo received the national award Città Cristologica 2018.

The talk will be held today at 6pm at the Italian Cultural Institute, St George’s Square, Valletta. Admission is free and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. It is organised by the institute in collaboration with the University of Malta’s Department of Art and Art History. For more information, visit www.iicvalletta.esteri.it.