November 1, 2018 - PRESS RELEASE

MEDIA ADVISORY

CARAVAGGIO’S ST. MATTHEW AND THE ANGEL RESURRECTED
TRUE COLOR DESCRIPTION DISCOVERED IN OLD ARCHIVES OF A
BERLIN MUSEUM MAKES ALL REPRODUCTIONS INACCURATE.

For Immediate Release
Contact Barry Baron
Wave Our Flag Journal
sandiegopatriot.com
media@waveourflag.com
1-619-203-0122

San Diego CA -  A Caravaggio painting, Saint Matthew and the Angel was destroyed in WWII. No color images exist to aid in the paintings accurate reproduction since its destruction in 1945. In 1986 a discovery of an overlooked detailed description of the masterpiece was uncovered through a request by an American artist attempting to produce a finite painted, faithful reproduction.

The description, written in 1909 by museum curator and art critic Hans Posse outline the color details and other significant changes not know for over 80 years. Hans Posse became Germaldegalerie Alte Meister and vetted works of art for Adolf Hitler for the planned Museum in Linz, Austria.

The information was provided by the curator of the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum in 1986 allowing American artist Noel Baron to paint a precise copy based on Posse’s description. The most noted color change, especially in St. Matthews tunic, were conveyed as dark olive green rather than a customarily believed dark red or maroon depicted in all paintings created since the war.

Additionally, an anomaly in the lower left corner commonly believe to be a crack or separation in the floor of the painting has been misinterpreted from the only Black and White photos that remained of the painting. In reality, a crack in the glass photographic negative plate conveyed into a print with that break causing a misinterpretation in the details of the painting’s image. A master print produced by the museum reveals the crack in such detail, that the adhesive used to join the two pieces is visible. The refractive index of the negative made the positive print appear to have a crack in the floor transposed into the final renditions of the attempts to reproduced the Caravaggio accurately.

Apologies noted from the Gallery indicate that in indeed there is a cracked glass negative in a letter prior to acquiring the Hans Posse description of the painting’s more accurate color scheme.

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