Venetian School from the late 16th century
Circle of Jacopo Negretti, called Palma il Giovane (Venice 1544 - 1628)
Saint Jerome the Penitent
Oil on canvas
85 x 64 cm., Framed 97 x 76 cm.
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This splendid painting, which offers an intense depiction of Saint Jerome the Penitent, Doctor of the Church who lived between the 4th and 5th centuries, is a work of notable quality and pictorial refinement, a testament to the mature Venetian Renaissance, painted in the Venetian area around the end of the 16th century.
The multifaceted figure of the Saint, hermit, penitent, cardinal, and fine humanist, who translated the Bible into Latin, was very popular in the 15th and 16th centuries, a supreme example of the harmony between classical knowledge and Christian virtue. For this reason, it was a subject dear to a refined and educated audience, not infrequently illustrated in smaller works intended for private devotion.
The elderly Saint is depicted semi-nude, according to the typical iconography that portrays him as a hermit, while, kneeling, he strikes his chest with a stone as a sign of penance. We see him with his gaze intent on contemplating the crucifix and the open book, both his canonical iconographic attributes, references to his fruitful activity as a biblical scholar and theologian, which made him the precursor of the Renaissance humanist.
Saint Jerome is represented in a mountainous and wild landscape, near the cave of Bethlehem where he withdrew to follow his vocation as a hermit, at the bottom of which opens the view of a city, an emblem of the contrast between nature and civilization.
Examining its stylistic characteristics, the composition is undoubtedly indebted to the models created by Jacopo Negretti called Palma il Giovane (Venice 1548-1628), who repeatedly tackled the subject in multiple illustrative ways.
The luminosity that envelops the scene is of clear Venetian origin: the composition is traversed by an intense glow that illuminates the figure of the Saint, emphasizing the rather sober chromatic range, played on earthy tones.
The painting, whose excellent condition allows for optimal reading, shows a very precise and high-quality brushstroke.
A Wood's lamp examination shows no significant restorations, but some scattered retouches on the surface.
The work is accompanied by a photographic expertise of authenticity in accordance with the law.
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