Painter: Carlo Dolci
Colors: 150 / 21 blends
Dimensions: 50 * 62.9 squares
1 square is 10 * 10 dots, about 1 centimeter
Price: 12500 €
Framed: Cornel Rosca
Carlo Dolci – St. Matthew Writing His Gospel – sewing period
Carlo (or Carlino) Dolci (25 May 1616 – 17 January 1686) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Florence, known for highly finished religious pictures, often repeated in many versions.
Location: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles USA.
Carlo Dolci painted this canvas for his confessor as part of a series depicting the four evangelists. Wearing delicately painted robes of red and blue, Saint Matthew leans to the left, concentrating on his work. He is writing the words that open the Gospel of Matthew, which was considered the first divinely inspired Christian text. The words are accurately reproduced in Hebrew, the saint’s native language. At his side, a winged putto holds an inkpot and looks up admiringly at Matthew.
Dolci meticulously described the textures of the saint’s wispy beard, his wavy hair, the heavy softness of his robe, even minute details like the dirt under the saint’s fingernails. Highly popular in his time, Dolci was known for his devotional paintings. His refined canvases combined a polished, precise technique with a sentimentality that appealed to patrons, particularly in his native Florence.