Martyrdom of St. Matthew

The most chaotic of the three Contarelli paintings — figures scatter in every direction as the near-naked assassin looms over the fallen saint. An angel descends with the palm of martyrdom. In the shadows on the left, a bearded man looks out at us with an expression of grief: that's Caravaggio's self-portrait, watching himself paint a murder. The composition took years of struggle — X-rays show at least two complete underpaintings.