Artwork
Saint Jerome Penitent [right panel]
![Saint Jerome Penitent [right panel], by Jan Gossaert, oil, 1510](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/jan-gossaert--saint-jerome-penitent-right-panel--0d4ac14f44de87b1-w1024.webp)
Saint Jerome Penitent [right panel] is an oil painting by the Northern Renaissance artist Jan Gossaert. It dates from 1510 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:Falsely inscribed center right on a small stone: AD (in ligature)
About this work
Subject & Meaning
While specific iconographic attributes such as the lion or cardinal's hat are not described in the available sources, the work represents Jerome in penitence.
The right panel depicts Saint Jerome as a penitent, a subject central to its religious genre. Created by Jan Gossaert in 1510, the painting focuses on the solitary figure of the saint. While specific iconographic attributes such as the lion or cardinal's hat are not described in the available sources, the work represents Jerome in penitence.
Its narrow vertical format, measuring 86.7 cm in height by 24.5 cm in width, indicates its original function as a wing of a larger altarpiece or diptych, isolating the saint for devotional contemplation and emphasizing the spiritual state of penitence associated with his later life in the desert.
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting executed on a wooden panel in 1510, with the support measuring 86.7 by 24.5 cm. The subject is the biblical figure Jerome, rendered in a religious composition typical of early sixteenth-century Flemish art. The painting forms the right wing of a triptych, as indicated by its cataloguing as the right panel. No further technical details regarding handling or condition are provided in the documentation.
History & Provenance
The right panel Saint Jerome Penitent is dated 1510 and attributed to Jan Gossaert. It entered modern records by 1858 in the possession of John M. Romadka of Prague and Milwaukee; after his death it passed to his widow and then to their daughter Mary Tekla Romadka in Pasadena. By 1945 it was with Duveen Brothers in New York, which handled the subsequent sale.
In 1949 the Samuel H. Kress Foundation purchased the work, and in 1952 it was transferred by exchange to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, as part of the Kress Collection, where it remains. No specific accession number is given in the available sources.
Overview
This oil painting by Jan Gossaert, titled Saint Jerome Penitent [right panel], dates to approximately 1510. Executed on a wooden panel, it portrays the Christian scholar and priest Saint Jerome in a moment of contemplation or repentance. The work is part of a larger tradition of depicting saints in solitary, often rugged, environments, emphasizing their spiritual devotion and asceticism.
![Saint Jerome Penitent [left panel]](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/jan-gossaert--saint-jerome-penitent-left-panel--3d396afbb0f8e738-w320.webp)
Artist & collection
Artist
Jan Gossaert (c. 1478 – 1 October 1532) was a French-speaking painter from the Low Countries also known as Jan Mabuse (the name he adopted from his birthplace, Maubeuge) or Jennyn van Hennegouwe (Hainaut), as he called…
