Peccatores quoque salvos fecit: Caravaggio

I think that is difficult to know Michelangelo Merisi called Caravaggio, because he was born in Milan but his family transferred to Caravaggio, a little town in province of Bergamo, Italy. Here I want consider an idea that is evident because Caravaggio painted, but is very hide because in conformity of opinion of Musil(1880-1942) an Austrian writer, that ruled that “the monument is so great and nobody sees it”, in fact in Italy is normal that very much tourist ask where is a monument and they are walking on. I have thought that the light of Caravaggio on Conversion of saint Mattew(Fig.1), has peculiarity that has opening radius so large and it involves also who is busied to count the money, and not looks Christ, on contrary Mattew looks and indicates herself, but the counter no, because he is in sin and he ignores Christ; thereupon Christ salved both converted and the sinner; we can consider the episode of Gospel when Christ give the vision to blind, and to same blind Christ said: “ I have come on the word to work a judge, so that who doesn’t see can see and who see become blind”; therefore in conformity of iconology(discipline that studies the meaning of artist works) we can argue that who counts money is blind to faith, but Christ is going to salve also him, and this interpretation is given by saint Paul, in the first letter to Timothy: “It is a word of faith and very worthy of acceptance, this, that Christ Jesus come on the word to salve the sinner, whose I am the first, and I reached mercy because to me he showed Christ his goodness to whom to believes to him for eternal life…”. A difference very modest is to first version of saint Mattew(Fig.2), now in deposit of Hermitage museum in Russia, that from 1945 they thought lost, on contrary it was stolen from a soldier of Red armed; in this version Caravaggio used same radius for space and he included twice figures, but angel is normal because he is a sent by God and saint Mattew seems very astonish because he is writing the his Gospel, but in conformity to tradition of Gospel, Mattew was a publican, as the sinner that ignores Christ on painting(Fig.1), and thereupon also Mattew is a sinner, that, trough the light of mercy, is going to be salved; same vision that we have to Conversion(Fig.1)why? Because publican that doesn’t look Christ is involved from the light, as angel and saint Mattew in the saint Mattew and angel(Fig.2); but I must add that when I attended the High school, this painting was considered lost, and second comments about it has said that saint Mattew was astonish because he was writing, because illiterate; alone bullshit! Saint Mattew was a publican and he have to know count and litter to write names and money that he have to take; thereupon he written the first Gospel after the conversion, with or without angel, anyway the radius of light involved twice figures, because the saint is by now Christian, but publican of Conversion isn’t so, and to that moment neither Mattew, because he indicates herself, but he doesn’t Christ, and radius of light involve both saint Mattew and the publican near, but light is same to twice, because also who hasn’t recognized Christ as savior of the world, after is going to make it, this light is therefore saving, both sinner and saint, for this it involved two figure, one by now salved, saint Mattew but also the sinner is going to salve by this light. A curiosity; this version of painting(Fig.1), is refused from cardinal Cointrel, because, in conformity with outclassing opinion of some decade ago, the saint was very poor and vulgar, but the major studious of Caravaggio, Maurizio Marini has declared that this painting was refused because the angel, is female angel, this is the nephew of same cardinal that then has had six years and Caravaggio studied this baby and portrayed hers on the painting, therefore an angel, usually male has become female; it is no admissible because during Counter-reformation application of dictates of religion were holy and everybody have to respect it, then a angel have to be a male angel and stop.

Alessandro Lusana  

Fig.1

Fig.2