Hendrick de Somer aka Enrico Fiammingo
(Lokeren 1602 - Naples 1655)
Saint Jerome penitent in the cave
103 x 130 cm. - In original period frame 123 x 152 cm.
This superb Saint Jerome, among the most popular and recurring figures in 17th-century paintings, is a work of extraordinary visual impact, showing the Christian monk portrayed as a hermit kneeling in prayer in the dim light of a cave.
The painting is undoubtedly indebted to Neapolitan models of the early 17th century, and the stylistic characteristics in particular highlight the influence of Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652), evident both in the choice of subject and in the dramatic expressiveness of the elderly body.
Compared to the great master, however, the canvas presents a softer painterly style compared to the tenebrist and naturalistic tensions typical of his art, veering towards a neo-Venetian painting based on the expressive power of color. These considerations, combined with the descriptive attention to the face, suggest attribution to Hendrick van Somer (1607 - 1656).
The numerous paintings of undoubted authorship present in private collections and important public collections are a fundamental point of comparison with this beautiful and sentimentally intense canvas.
Among his known works are three versions of Saint Jerome in the desert, one in the Trafalgar Galleries in London from 1651, another the superb Saint Jerome in the National Gallery of Palazzo Barberini in Rome signed and dated 1652 (https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:San_Girolamo_in_lettura_-_Van_Somer.jpg), and another in the Galleria Spada, also in Rome.
Here are other works by the master:
https://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/ricerca.v2.jsp?filtroartista_OA=16402&apply=true&de...
Our work shows Somer's complex language, with the Ribera-esque root evident in the choice of subject and the dramatic expressiveness of the old arm placed in sharp relief.
The Saint, with his slender body, all tense tendons and rigid bones, is contrasted with the ample red drapery of the mantle that envelops him, an allusion to his cardinal dignity. The open book is his canonical iconographic attribute, referring to Jerome's prolific activity as a scholar, biblical expert, and theologian, which made him the precursor of the Renaissance humanist.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
The work is completed by a beautiful antique frame and is sold with a certificate of authenticity and guarantee.
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