I was introduced to Carpaccio by Mrs Harrod. She was familiar with Venice and was giving me some ideas of how to fill my time while our husbands were busy making radio programmes. She gave me the choice of Tintoretto or Carpaccio. I was not sure of the reason but I went for the lesser known and she directed me to an out of the way corner - over many bridges to a small stone building set askew to the canal with an imposing old wooden door. The notice on the outside suggested rather limited opening times but I was fortunate, paid the small fee and entered the sombre cave like place. Once inside, eyes adjusting, the wood panelling became less like a coffin and more like a great decorated chest perhaps designed to house linens for a great family. On the walls were stories painted with careful precision and stillness, the drama being explained in paint.
Of all the exquisite paintings, the image that captured me was the Calling of Matthew - a small panel on the right hand wall, quite hard to see in the low light of a spring afternoon. The costumes and setting are strangely Italian and there are some slightly troubling aspects to the perspective of the buildings. Yet right in the centre are two hands joined. Christ holds out his hands to gently call the proud tax collector away from his money and reckoning. He calls him away from all he has known and relied upon. By the inclination of his head and the slight pull of his hand he beckons to a new life. Matthew has to step down onto the rough ground. He will need to discard his rich brocade cloak and gold trimmed hat. He will be able to discard the notoriety and resentment of his job for an even less respectable crowd of itinerant followers of a deeply disturbing teacher. He does not yet know what the future will hold : that he will discover the ability to exchange accounting with numbers for accounting for the truth of this man, this Messiah. That step he takes means nothing will ever be the same again. But it is not taken alone. Like a kind Father Jesus makes sure he does not trip or fall. He will watch over him all the days of his life.
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