Matthias Stomer

Matthias Stom painted biblical scenes lit by a single candle or lamp, with faces and hands glowing out of deep shadow. His style follows Caravaggio and the Dutch painters of Utrecht, but with his own smooth, heavy modelling of flesh.

Little is known of his life. He was born around 1600 in the Netherlands and may have trained in Utrecht with the Caravaggists there. He is documented in Rome from 1630 to 1632, then in Naples, and from 1641 in Sicily. His work is in the Metropolitan Museum and in many churches and collections in Italy.

Christ Before the High Priest and Adoration of the Christ Child show his dramatic candlelight.