This is a rare and very fine example of Giovanni Paolo Panini’s sacred paintings. The artist was actually renowned principally for his profane subjects, painted after he settled in Rome in 1711: monumental canvases representing festivities, views of ruins and the interiors of the art galleries of the most important collectors of the period.
In this canvas, Jesus calls Matthew, seated at his booth and busy at his work as a tax collector, summoning him to become one of his disciples. The artist shows great skill in depicting not only the faces of the tax collectors but also the drapery of their colourful garments and the large striped awning above them.
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