Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Gesture in Painting: Problems in Semiology

1969; Iter Press; Volume: 22; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.33137/rr.v22i1.12173

2293-7374

André Chastel,

Visual Culture and Art Theory

In February 1 602, Caravaggio was commissioned to paint a large picture of Saint Matthew and the Angel for the altar of the Contarelli Chapel.Upon delivery a few months later, the work was refused 'con dire che quella figura non haveva decoro ne aspetto di Santo' ('they said that that figure had neither the dignity nor the bearing of a saint').^A new, slightly taller picture was hastily completed and installed over the altar by the end of the year.The first painting was destroyed in Berlin in 1 945, the second still hangs in the chapel.A comparison of these two works offers an