Caravaggio_ A Life Sacred and Profane - Andrew Graham-Dixon [128]
Caravaggio probably remained in the household of the Mattei family until at least the beginning of 1603. His precise movements are hard to track following his departure from the household of Cardinal del Monte, who was himself friendly with the Mattei and may have been instrumental in the artist’s move. Caravaggio’s change of address should not be seen as marking a break between him and del Monte. The painter continued to rely on his old protector for support. On the evening of 11 October 1601 Caravaggio was stopped for carrying arms without a licence in the district of the Campo Marzio. The policeman who made the arrest reported that the painter ‘insisted that he was on the household roll of the Cardinal del Monte, and because he did not have a licence and I did not know if it was true, I took him to prison at the Tor di Nona.’29 Nothing came of it and the painter was soon released, probably with del Monte’s help. For his part the Medici cardinal seems to have remained on good terms with his protégé, continuing to make allowances for his erratic behaviour.
Cardinal Girolamo Mattei was one of three brothers. Although he was not the eldest, his elevated position in the Roman curia meant that it was he who lived in the principal family palace. He was a member of the strictest order of Franciscan friars, the Observants. Cardinal Mattei was noted for his dislike of conspicuous display and may have influenced Caravaggio’s turn towards a harsh and simplified language of Christian painting in 1601. The pictures for the Cerasi Chapel, so stark and ascetic, were finished when Caravaggio was living in the Palazzo Mattei.
Girolamo’s two brothers, Ciriaco and Asdrubale, shared a house close to the Palazzo Mattei. Ciriaco was a year older than the cardinal, while Asdrubale was ten years younger. Both men had added to their considerable inherited wealth by marrying advantageously. They were known as enthusiastic collectors of ancient Roman sculpture and as connoisseurs of contemporary art. The family account books show that it was they, rather than their brother the cardinal, who commissioned paintings from Caravaggio. For Asdrubale he created a painting of St Sebastian that has long since been lost. For Ciriaco he painted no fewer than three gallery paintings on sacred themes, all of which survive.
The archives of the Mattei family show that Caravaggio was paid by Ciriaco at the start of January 1602 for ‘A painting of Our Lord Breaking Bread’. This is The Supper at Emmaus, now in the National Gallery in London. The painting tells the biblical story of the risen Christ, days after the crucifixion, sharing a meal with two of his astonished followers. According to the gospel of Luke, at first they did not recognize him: ‘And then it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight’ (Luke 24:30–31). Caravaggio paints the moment just before the vanishing. Dressed in robes of red and white, colours that symbolize his triumphant resurrection, Jesus reveals his identity with a gesture of gentle benediction. In the act of blessing the square and solid loaves of bread, he both confirms that he has indeed risen from the dead and affirms his own bodily presence in the Eucharist. The claws of a scrawny boiled chicken, pathetic image of mortality, are contrasted with the life-giving hands of Christ. A simple meal has become a sacrament.
The Bible says that the village of Emmaus ‘was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs’, but Caravaggio imagined a place much closer to home. His Supper