Church of Saint Louis of the French
French national church sheltering three Caravaggio masterpieces in a single dimly lit chapel.
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About this audio guide
This guide to the Church of Saint Louis of the French in Rome opens with a scandal: in 1602 the church's clergy rejected Caravaggio's first version of Saint Matthew and the Angel over how bluntly he painted the apostle's bare feet. It follows that canvas to a museum in Berlin and turns to the two surviving Caravaggios still on view here, the Calling and the Martyrdom of Saint Matthew. You'll also meet Matthieu Cointerel, the French cardinal who paid for the chapel and died decades before any of it was painted.
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