The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 1, 2026

A vertically oriented pen and gray wash drawing depicts two saints with light skin tones in a landscape. On the left, a bearded Saint Jerome stands bare-chested, holding a skull on a book beside a crouching lion. On the right, Saint Catherine stands in draped robes, holding a palm frond above a sword and wheel. The inscription "Pellegrino da Bologna" is centered at the bottom.

Saint Jerome and Saint Catherine of Alexandria Standing in a Landscape

c. 1530

Girolamo da Treviso the Younger

(Italian, 1497–1544)
Italy
pen and ink, gray wash, and white heightening over black chalk on prepared buff colored paper
Sheet: 24.3 x 22 cm (9 9/16 x 8 11/16 in.)
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2026.11
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

After working in Bologna from 1523 to 1538, the artist was invited to the court of King Henry VIII of England, where he became a military engineer and was killed during the English siege of Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1544.

Description

Girolamo da Treviso the Younger created this drawing as a preparatory design for a painting while working in Bologna at the Church of Santissimo Salvatore. The type of composition is known as a sacre conversazione (sacred conversation). Invented in Venice, this genre featured saints within expansive landscapes sharing a contemplative presence. Saint Jerome’s attribute, a lion, is loosely sketched with brush and ink, while the figures are carefully composed with a mix of ink, ink wash, and white highlights on colored paper, giving them a monumental, sculptural appearance.
  • Padre Sebastiano Resta (1635-1714), Rome (L.2992a) (Lansdowne manuscript, (inscribed) no. 182: 'delle più belle cose di Giovanni de' Vecchi da Borgo')
    Giovanni Matteo Marchetti, bishop of Arezzo (1647-1704)
    Lord John Somers (1650-1716), Worcester (L.2981)
    1717
    his sale, London, 1717
    Jonathan Richardson Sr. (1665-1745), London (L.2183), on his mount, with his inscription lower center: Pellegrino da Bologna (i.e., Pellegrino Tibaldi)
    Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), London (L.2364)
    1985
    sale, London, Christie's, 10 April 1985, lot 25 (as attributed to Pellegrino Tibaldi)
    Ian Duncan (bears his mark, not in Lugt)
    with Thomas Williams Fine Art Ltd., London, where acquired by Diane A. Nixon in 2010
    2026
    Sotheby’s, New York, February 4, 2026, lot 4
    March 2, 2026–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Drawn to Excellence: Renaissance to Romantic Drawings from a Private Collection. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA (September 28, 2012–January 6, 2013); Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, NY (February 27–May 5, 2013)
    Drawing in Bologna, 1500-1600. The Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, England (June 18–August 31, 1992).
  • {{cite web|title=Saint Jerome and Saint Catherine of Alexandria Standing in a Landscape|url=false|author=Girolamo da Treviso the Younger|year=c. 1530|access-date=01 June 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2026.11