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How did the second version of Saint Matthew and the Angel differ from the rejected first version?
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Caravaggio
The Conversion of St. Paul (second version), oil on canvas by Caravaggio, 1601; in Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome.
The first version of Saint Matthew and the Angel was rejected by church patrons because it depicted the apostle as a poor, illiterate peasant with gnarled features, rough hands, and dirty feet prominently displayed in the foreground while being guided by an angel.
In the second version, which remains on the altar of the Contarelli Chapel, Caravaggio modified the composition to be more decorous. He portrayed Saint Matthew as a dignified scholar saint wearing formal robes, and the angel appears more remote and less familiar in its interaction with the saint.1