Apostel Matteüs 1670 - 1711

Pieter Schenk created this print of the Apostle Matthew in Holland sometime between 1660 and 1711. Here, Matthew is presented as a classical figure, robed and haloed, holding a book in one hand and a bag of money in the other. Prints like this one were devotional objects, mass-produced and sold in shops or by traveling peddlers, and they played an important role in shaping popular understanding of religious figures. This image would have been influenced by the visual culture of its time, particularly the Dutch Republic's Protestantism and its burgeoning commercialism. Matthew's status as a tax collector could have been particularly relevant in the context of Dutch mercantile capitalism. Looking closer, the Latin text "Justus ut palma florebit" from Psalm 92 connects Matthew to Justice, and it is important to consider the interplay between religious, economic, and political ideas in the Dutch Golden Age. Scholarly resources on the history of Dutch printmaking, religious history, and economic history can shed light on the complex social and institutional factors that shaped its meaning.