# Saint Jerome

- By: Jusepe de Ribera (Spanish, 1591–1652)
- Date: c. 1638–40
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Framed: 150 x 121.5 x 9 cm (59 1/16 x 47 13/16 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 129 x 100.3 cm (50 13/16 x 39 1/2 in.)
- Culture: Spain
- Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1961.219)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1961.219/1961.219_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Saint Jerome (about ad 347–420) translated biblical texts into Latin. Although he sometimes appears as a scholar in his study, Ribera represents him here as a penitent who withdrew to the desert, beating his chest with a stone to emulate Christ’s suffering and contemplating a skull symbolizing human vanity. Working in Naples, Ribera enthusiastically adapted Caravaggio’s characteristic use of light and dark and naturalistic models.