Saint Jerome in his Study
Dublin Core
Title
Description
This painting is painted by Antonello da Messina depicting a scene of Saint Jerome in his study space by offering a scope into the saint’s living space as we are looking into a doll’s house. St. Jerome was born in the fourth century, he is known for establishing a monastery in Bethlehem and translating the Bible from Greek to Latin [1]. Overall, the painting was created with a Venetian aesthetic, but it also incorporates many traits of Netherlandish painting. For example, Saint. Jerome’s study is a Gothic cathedral architecture that was inspired by Netherlandish paintings [2].
Antonello’s skill was at the peak stage when he created this painting. He perfectly adopted the use of oil paint to recreate the textures of various objects, ranging from the shiny ceramic tiles on the floor to the dull texture of the book on the shelf. If the viewer looks carefully into the painting, their focus will be grasped by the book on the table and the hand of St. Jerome by the highlight of the lighting factor. This was done on purpose by Antonello to honor St. Jerome’s status and his contribution to the Catholic Church. Throughout the painting, the viewer can find many symbolic items that are connected with St. Jerome. In the bottom part of the painting, there is a peacock and partridge standing peacefully on the stair. The peacock is symbolizing immortality and the partridge symbolizes the truth. The lion on the right side implies the story when St. Jerome pulled a thorn out of its paw. And the pyxes on the shelf would refer to Mary’s womb. This painting has included a vast amount of details and the adopted special techniques that have made this painting recognized as one of the finest artworks produced by Antonello.
[1] “Saint Jerome in his Study” The National Gallery of UK, Accessed on October 24, 2020. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/antonello-da-messina-saint-jerome-in-his-study
[2] Jolly, Penny Howell. "Antonello Da Messina's Saint Jerome in His Study: An Iconographic Analysis." The Art Bulletin 65, no. 2 (1983): 238-53. doi:10.2307/3050320.
Creator
Source
Jolly, Penny Howell. "Antonello Da Messina's Saint Jerome in His Study: An Iconographic Analysis." The Art Bulletin 65, no. 2 (1983): 238-53. doi:10.2307/3050320.
Jolly, Penny Howell. "Antonello Da Messina's 'St Jerome in His Study': A Disguised Portrait?" The Burlington Magazine 124, no. 946 (1982): 27-29. http://www.jstor.org/stable/880603.
Ridderbos, Bernhard. "Antonello's 'Saint Jerome in His Study'." The Burlington Magazine 124, no. 952 (1982): 449 . http://www.jstor.org/stable/880731.
Publisher
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/antonello-da-messina-saint-jerome-in-his-study