This "St Jerome" was painted by a follower of the Utrecht Caravaggist, Gerrit vonHonthorst, and is presumably modelled on a picture by him (whereabouts unknown). Concealed behind a beam, the light source in this picture creates a dramatic mood that is further heightened by the fact that the saint is illuminated from below. All our attention is focused on the body of the ascetic saint who in the quiet of the night is engaged in acts of penance. They have obviously already taken their toll on his ageing body: every wrinkle and every vein bulging with the effort are meticulously depicted by the artist.
St Jerome had been a widespread subject since the sixteenth century. The Italians liked to portray him in the open air, but northern painters preferred to show the Church Father at work in his study. The Dutch Caravaggists combined the two concepts: in his portrayals of Jerome in the desert, Honthorst included a wooden shack, a table, books, a crucifix and skull that are all reminiscent of a scholar in his study. Carravagio’s interpretation of the saint as the translator of the Bible (c. 1605, Galleria Borghese, Rome) was a major source of inspiration for his successors, as was his choice of a horizontal format and the half-length figure, which subsequently characterized their compositions on this theme. During the Renaissance, in keeping with humanist ideals, St Jerome was portrayed as a hermit so as to emphasize his role as a learned Church Father, the translator of the Bible and author. As this painting shows, in the seventeenth century, Jerome became an ardent penitent beating his naked breast with a stone to draw blood in acknowledgement of his sinful nature. This should be seen in connection with the Council of Trent, which stressed the need for the active penitential practice. |
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Oil on vanvas
height 109 cm, width 139 cm
Inv.-No. GE292
Provenance: acquired by Prince Johann I von Liechtenstein
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