Master Mateo and his workshop. Ca. 1200. GraniteThe image of Saint Matthew, currently exhibited in the Cathedral Museum, comes from the south side façade of Master Mateo’s stone choir, in particular from the last section in which he would form a group with the rest of the Evangelists.
After being removed from the choir, it was relocated in the window opening of the Chapel of San Bartolomé, in the ambulatory of the cathedral, where it remained until its incorporation into the Museum’s collections, currently displayed in the monographic space dedicated to Master Mateo in the Ceremonial Hall of the Gelmírez Palace.
This piece, of excellent and delicate workmanship, follows the model used for its homonym on the tympanum of the Portico of Glory, that can be seen writing on a desk resting on his lap from which a scroll is displayed vertically. Both images also serve to appreciate the evolution of Mateo’s workshop in the time between them.