Caravaggio Symbolism

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Life has a funny way of changing at the most unexpected times in the most unexpected ways whether it is changes in a job, or in ones’ education, or even one’s core beliefs. One way someone’s life can change is when they decide to follow Christ. In Caravaggio’s early 17th century work, The Call of St. Matthew, Caravaggio allows the viewer to witness the story of Christ calling St. Matthew to quit his job as tax collector and follow him as one of his twelve apostles. Through the use of symbolism, positioning of characters, and chiaroscuro Caravaggio captures the birth of a vocation and an encounter between God and man. This is a climactic moment in which Matthew’s life wavers between two possibilities. St. Matthew must decide to either continue

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