Saint Matthew and the Contarelli Chapel

The Jubilee Year offers a unique opportunity to take a closer look at the Contarelli Chapel in the Church of St. Louis of the French (Rome). This church, which boasts one of the most emblematic religious decors of the Baroque period, attracts thousands of visitors every year to admire Caravaggio’s three representations of St. Matthew: St. Matthew and the Angel, The Martyrdom of St. Matthew and The Vocation of St. Matthew.

The Contarelli Chapel in the church of Saint-Louis-des-Français has been the subject of a large number of studies and interpretations of considerable methodological significance. With the aim of reflecting on the plurality of approaches that such a decoration has produced, and continues to stimulate, the study days organized by the French Embassy to the Holy See, the Pieux-établissements de la France à Rome et Lorette, in collaboration with the Académie de France à Rome – Villa Médicis, will focus on a series of questions that examine both the figure of Saint Matthew, the subjects and narratives of the paintings, and the creation of a new genre of religious painting, with its effects in the past and present.

This event is part of a series dedicated to the figure of Caravaggio at Villa Medici. Events in this series include a presentation of the book Pietro Paolini (1603-1681). Caravaggesque painter of the strange by Nikita de Vernejoul: information and bookings.

Program

Part 1
Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Location: Académie de France à Rome – Villa Médicis, Grand Salon
Reservations required to enter Villa Medici

10:00 am
Welcome Address
Florence Mangin, Her Excellency the Ambassador of France to the Holy See
Sam Stourdzé, Director of the French Academy in Rome

Introduction by the Organizers
Francesca Alberti (National Gallery, London)
Giovanni Careri (EHESS Paris, IUAV di Venezia)
Alessandro Gallicchio (French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici)

10:20 am
Arte o Natura? Il linguaggio del corpo in Caravaggio
Marco Collareta (Storico dell’arte)
Language: Italian

11:00 am
Caravaggio and the passing angel
Todd Olson (University of California, Berkeley)
Language: English

12:00 pm
Narcissus in the Contarelli Chapel. Secularity, testimony, conversion
Giovanni Careri (EHESS Paris, IUAV di Venezia)
Language: French

2:00 pm
Caravaggio Sound System. Reflections on the sound of the Contarelli Chapel cycle
Guillaume Cassegrain (Université Grenoble Alpes)

2:45 pm
Caravaggio e la “tavola del santo”: conversione e conversazioni nella cappella Contarelli
Chiara Franceschini (LMU München / IMT Alti Studi Lucca)
Language: Italian

3:30 pm
Caravaggio dialettico. La dinamica del vedere nella cappella Contarelli
Michele di Monte (Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Palazzo Barberini)
Language: Italian

Part 2
Location: Saint-Louis-des-Français Church in Rome, from 5:00 pm
Round table: free, reservation required, ticketing link
Concert: free entry, subject to availability

5:00–6:15 pm
Round table with the participation of Francesca Alberti, Giovanni Careri, Marco Collareta, Michele Di Monte, Chiara Franceschini, Sara Magister, Todd Olson, Marco Ruffini, Maria Cristina Terzaghi
Language: French

8:30 pm
Concert by Gruppo Vocale Ottava Rima

Practical Information

Tuesday, April 29

Part 1: 10 am – 4 pm
French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici, Grand Salon
Free admission, reservation required ticketing link

Part 2: From 5 pm
Church of Saint Louis of the French, Rome
Round table: free, reservation required, ticketing link
Concert: free entry, subject to availability

Languages: Italian, French, English