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Saint Jerome in Penitence

Master of the Lille Adoration (Netherlandish, active about 1520–40)

1525–30

Medium: Oil on panel
Classification: Painting
Dimensions: 34.2 × 25.3 cm (13 1/2 × 10 in.)
Culture: Netherlands
Museum: Art Institute of Chicago, Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Credit line: Gift of Suzette and Eugene Davidson
Rights: Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it: Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed

About this work

Saint Jerome, known for translating the Bible into Latin, was a popular subject for paintings in the Renaissance, a period of renewed interest in secular and religious learning. Artists typically depicted him as a scholar in his study or as an ascetic in the wilderness, but this portrait-like image combines both themes. The books before him on the desk suggest his learned character, while the crucifix and skull he contemplates as he beats his breast with a rock evoke his hermetic activities. The saint displays the nervous, exaggerated gestures often found in work by this artist, known as the Master of the Lille Adoration.