The Inspiration of Saint Matthew

The Inspiration of Saint Matthew is an oil on canvas painting by the Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, from 1602. Commissioned by the French Cardinal Matthieu Cointerel, the canvas hangs in the Contarelli Chapel altar in the church of the French congregation San Luigi dei Francesi, in Rome.

It is one of three Caravaggio canvases in the chapel: hanging between the larger earlier canvases of The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew, and The Calling of Saint Matthew. This was not an easy commission for Caravaggio, and at least two of the three paintings had to be either replaced or repainted to satisfy his patron, Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte.