Saint Jerome Writing by Caravaggio, 1605-1606
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Bellori mentions Carravaggio's Saint Jerome thus: "For Cardinal Scipione Borghese, Caravaggio painted a "Saint Jerome writing with concentration; he extends his hand and the pen toward the inkwell." In 1659 it is again mentioned by Manilli, Villa Borghese: "Stanza del Moro, it San Girolamo, the sta scrivendo, e del Caravaggio."
The Borghese Saint Jerome is a characteristic work of Caravaggio's later Roman years. It was made for Scipione Borghese about the same time as the beautiful David, to which the Saint Jerome is stylistically close in the fluid treatment of light, in retaining the bodies within a slightly receding closed space, and in the evident, but very subtle movement toward the spectator.
The bearded old man, his bald head slanting a bit forward, is a further development of similar types in Caravaggio's earlier work (the man with the eyeglasses in the Calling of Saint Matthew, Saint Peter in the Crucifixion of St. Peter, and the attendant in The Conversion of St. Paul), and is closest to the head of the long-bearded Apostle who stands almost in the center of the Death of the Virgin of 1605.
The painting of St. Jerome in Meditation at the convent of Montserrat in Spain came there from a Roman collection in 1911. It shows the saint almost in full-length, and the facial type is the same as that in the Borghese painting. Longhi accepts it as an original by Caravaggio. This canvas lacks the distinction of that in the Borghese and may well be a very clever imitation.
Other paintings/pictures tagged "St Jerome"
"St Jerome in his Study" (1514) Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe |
"Saint Jerome in His Study" (1514) British Museum, London |
"St. Jerome in Meditation" (1605) Museo del Monasterio de Santa Maria, Monserrat |
"St Jerome" (1521) Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon |
Popular Works by Caravaggio
Narcissus (1597-1599) • Judith Beheading Holofernes (1598-1599) • David with the Head of Goliath 3 (1609-1610) • Amor Victorious (1601-1602) • St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness 1 (1607) • Portrait of Maffeo Barberini (1599) • Taking of the Christ (1602) • The Sacrifice of Isaac (1601-1602) • Supper at Emmaus (1606)
Caravaggio Maturity period paintings
Saint Jerome Writing (1605-1606) • The Entombment (1602-1603) • The Crowning with Thorns (1602-1603) • St. Jerome in Meditation (1605) • St. John the Baptist (1595) • St. Francis (1606) • Ecce Homo (1606) • St. John The Baptist (1602) • Madonna di Loreto (1603-1605) • Madonna with the Serpent (1606) • Saint Francis (1606) • The Crowning with Thorns (1595)
Caravaggio Early paintings
Bacchino Malato (1593) • Bacchus (1596) • Concert of Youths (1595) • St Catherine of Alexandria (1598) • Boy Bitten by a Lizard (1594-1596) • St. Francis in Ecstasy (~1600) • Martha and Mary Magdalene (1598) • The Cardsharps (1594) • Penitent Magdalene (1597) • Boy Peeling a Pear (1592-1593) • Rest on Flight to Egypt (1596-1597)
Caravaggio Later paintings (the Maltese period)
Beheading of John the Baptist (1608) • Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt (1608) • The Seven Acts of Mercy (1607) • Sleeping Cupid (1608) • Christ at the Column (1607) • St Jerome (1607) • Madonna del Rosario (1607) • Flagellation of Christ (1607) • Burial of St Lucy (1608) • Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt 2 (1607-1608) • Raising of Lazarus (1609)
Caravaggio Latest paintings
David with the Head of Goliath 2 (1606-1607) • Salome with the Head of the Baptist (1609) • The Denial of St Peter (1610) • Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (1607) • The Annunciation (1608-1609) • Nativity with St Francis and St Lawrence (1609)
Caravaggio Cerasi Chapel Paintings
The Conversion of St. Paul (1601) • The Conversion of St. Paul (1600)
Caravaggio Contarelli Chapel Paintings
Martyrdom of St. Matthew (1599-1600) • The Inspiration of Saint Matthew (1602)