Which Italian Baroque painter created 'The Calling of Saint Matthew'?

Caravaggio created The Calling of Saint Matthew. The Italian Baroque painter completed this dramatic oil painting around 1599–1600 for the Contarelli Chapel in Rome.

The scene illustrates the Gospel story in which Jesus calls the tax collector Matthew to follow him. Caravaggio places the encounter in what resembles a contemporary room filled with men counting money. A beam of light enters from the upper right, guiding the viewer toward Jesus and the startled figures at the table. This mixture of sacred subject matter and ordinary human settings was one of Caravaggio’s most influential innovations.

The painting remains in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, alongside two related works by Caravaggio: The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew and The Inspiration of Saint Matthew. One detail remains debated: scholars disagree about which figure at the table represents Matthew. Many identify the bearded man pointing toward himself, while others argue that the gesture may indicate a different figure. That interpretive debate does not change the firmly established attribution to Caravaggio.