The desk is covered by an oriental carpet, a luxurious object often depicted by Ghirlandaio, and perhaps also inspired by Netherlandish painters. Dürer theorized extensively on linear perspective and anatomical proportion, concerns that were articulated in a vast body of written work as well as in his paintings and prints. The fruit calls to mind the poisonous apple of Adam and Eve's fall in the Garden of Eden, the food of spiritual sickness and eternal damnation. The darkness moved him to ponder the depths of hell and brought to his mind a saying of the ancient poet Virgil: "everywhere horror seizes the soul and the very silence is dreadful." These prayers of repentance and lamentation suit the monk who lived a life of penance in the desert. Later centuries praised him for his intellectual rigor, and Ghirlandaio's painting is filled not only with books, but also with pieces of text on scrolls and bits of paper pinned here and there, displaying the ancient languages Jerome mastered in order to translate the Scriptures. Part of the annexed frame and the inscriptions were lost. But the Church remembers him in the canon of saints as a scholar and translator of the Bible who exemplified a holiness of life worthy of emulation. The open books and the cartouches, with Greek and Hebrew letters, correspond to his activity as translator of the Bible. 1 But although his picture of Jerome places the saint among the usual accoutrements of such spaces, there is no surviving documentary evidence of Catena’s own scholarly interests, or clear evidence that he possessed a library. A contemporary of Saint Augustine of Hippo, Jerome fascinated Florentines for having acquired Christian knowledge and holiness in the early centuries of the Church while its feet were still dipped in classical learning. The partridge may be associated with both truth and deceit. The two inkwells subtly indicate this work: both the black ink, for text, and red ink, for rubrics, have splashed against the wood of his writing desk from repeated use. 70), 1514, The Scourging of Christ and Christ on the Mount of Olives, Hercules conquering Cacus (Hercules conquering the Molionide Twins), 1496, Christ on the Mount of Olives, 1508, from The Engraved Passion, 1508-13, Betrayal of Christ (from the Engraved Passion), 1508, The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine, circa 1498, Der zwölfjährige Jesus im Tempel – Christ among the Doctors , ca. He clutches a folded piece of paper in his left hand, a reference to his nearly 120 existing letters, which were particularly prized in the Renaissance for their breadth of topics and revelation of Jerome's spiky personality. A round wooden box is topped with fruit, in itself a small tableau concerning the mysteries of sin and salvation. The work was commissioned by the Vespucci family together with a Saint Augustine in His Study by Sandro Botticelli (1480). © 1996-2019 Catholic Education Resource Center | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Sitemap, CERC is an entirely reader-supported web site and non-profit charity. Half-filled carafes on the upper right symbolize the perpetual virginity of the Virgin Mary, a theological position staunchly supported by Jerome in an influential treatise. Considered one of the foremost artists of the Renaissance period, Albrecht Dürer’s extensive work in printmaking transformed the categorization of the medium from craft to fine art. © Domingie & Rabatti / La Collection. Jerome's eyes reveal a depth of pathos, his mouth a hint of a smile, and forehead creases indicate a life of thoughtfulness and animation. While Botticelli adopted a more expressive composition in his Saint Augustine (inspired by Andrea del Castagno's works), Ghirlandaio created a more serene and conventional figure, concentrating instead on the still life of the objects exposed on the writing desk and the shelves behind Jerome. "Saint Jerome in His Study." Magnificat (September, 2020). From National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Albrecht Dürer, Saint Jerome in His Study (1514), Engraving The entire scene gives a combined sense of energy and weariness typical of a long life of dedicated labor. Half-filled carafes on the upper right symbolize the perpetual virginity of the Virgin Mary, a theological position staunchly supported by Jerome in an influential treatise. His numerous A small paper on the shelf above the saint's hand reads in accurate Greek the phrase from Psalm 51: O God, have mercy on me according to your great pity. Saint Jerome in His Study (1480), Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449–1494), Church of Ognissanti, Florence, Italy. The initial stirrings of the Renaissance and its love of all things ancient had matured by the late 15th century, and Jerome held more than a pious interest to Renaissance thinkers. Denis R. McNamara is Associate Professor and Executive Director of the Center for Beauty and Culture at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan. Accordingly, he is shown as a scholarly Doctor of the Church, as indicated by his dress in cardinalatial red with his cardinal's hat on the shelf behind, even though in actuality this attire developed several centuries later. The light comes from the upper right corner, producing a well defined shadow of the saint on the drapery behind him; but also from the foreground, illuminating the objects on the desk. Both depicted two Doctors of the Church in their studies, with a number of objects which should mark their role as precursors of humanism. They decorated the area next to the choir, which was demolished in the 18th century. By contrast, the round box below has been identified by scholars as a large pyx holding Eucharistic hosts, the food of salvation and the medicine of eternal life, an idea central to Jerome's thought and writings as an answer to the sin of Adam.