The Calling of Saint Matthew

The Calling of Saint Matthew (1609) by Caravaggio. Its palette is led by blue black (#1a1816, 62%) and bistre (#322b23, 23%), with accents of golden umber. Overall the canvas is dark, muted and warm.

Color note

Caravaggio set brightly lit figures against near-black backgrounds, the dramatic style called tenebrism. His palette was simple, earth colors, lead white, black and vermilion: the drama comes from light, not hue.

Palette

#1a1816 MG 221 blue black 62.0% of canvas
#322b23 MG 219 bistre 23.4% of canvas
#574b35 MG 176 taupe 6.9% of canvas
#695b3f MG 184 umber 4.9% of canvas
#9c8357 MG 182 golden umber 2.7% of canvas

Color families

Black 76%, Brown 22%, Gray 1%, Yellow 1%, Orange 0%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.27
Contrast: 0.31
Vividness: 0.011
Warmth: +1.00
Complexity: 118 cells
Hue range: 0.34
Focus: 0.20

Composition

64% of the visual weight is in the right half, 57% in the upper half. Symmetry 0.04 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 58% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 19% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1609
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 340.0 × 322.0 cm
Genre: religious art
Collection: San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome

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More by Caravaggio

Self-Portrait as Bacchus, 1595
Medusa, 1597
Judith Beheading Holofernes, 1599
Supper at Emmaus, 1601
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, 1608