Artwork Page for Saint Jerome

Details / Information for Saint Jerome

Saint Jerome

c. 1638–40

Jusepe de Ribera

(Spanish, 1591–1652)
Culture
Spain
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 150 x 121.5 x 9 cm (59 1/16 x 47 13/16 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 129 x 100.3 cm (50 13/16 x 39 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1961.219
Public Domain
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Location
212 Baroque Painting and Sculpture
Print
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Did You Know?

Ribera signed the painting on the spine of the book in which Jerome will write.

Description

Saint Jerome (about ad 347–420) translated biblical texts into Latin. Although he sometimes appears as a scholar in his study, Ribera represents him here as a penitent who withdrew to the desert, beating his chest with a stone to emulate Christ’s suffering and contemplating a skull symbolizing human vanity. Working in Naples, Ribera enthusiastically adapted Caravaggio’s characteristic use of light and dark and naturalistic models.
A vertically oriented oil painting depicts Saint Jerome, a man with light skin tone, dark-gray hair, and light-gray beard. He faces us, cradling a skull in his left arm while holding a cross in his hand. His right hand holds a rock to his bare chest. Red cloth wraps over his shoulder and lower body, against a dark background. Lower right, on a rock, a cylinder holding a quill sits on a book.

Saint Jerome

c. 1638–40

Jusepe de Ribera

(Spanish, 1591–1652)
Spain

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