The Calling of Saint Matthew

Copy after Jan Sanders van Hemessen Netherlandish

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According to the New Testament, Matthew was a tax collector who received a summons from Christ to abandon his way of life and become an apostle. Van Hemessen imagined the scene as a swirling vortex of limbs making conflicting gestures in a miniature drama. Technical examination has revealed that this version is a high-quality early-seventeenth-century copy of Van Hemessen’s original in Vienna, indicating the persistent popularity of his innovative paintings on the Antwerp art market.

The Calling of Saint Matthew, Copy after Jan Sanders van Hemessen (Netherlandish, active by ca. 1524–died ca. 1564), Oil on wood

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