Matthias Stomer completed this ambitious composition shortly after his arrival in Rome, where he saw firsthand the theatrical light-dark contrasts in Caravaggio’s treatment of the same subject. At left, Christ turns to challenge the Roman tax collector Levi, later called Matthew, to follow him. The startled Levi, in blue and red garments that visually connect him to Christ, prepares to stand and leave his associates, who busily weigh and record coin payments. A direct response to Caravaggio’s prototype, Stomer’s The Calling of Saint Matthew also integrated the lessons he had learned about trends in Italian art from his contemporaries in Utrecht.