Saint Jerome in Penitence
1490
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1490
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Saint Jerome in Penitence is a 1490 by Unknown, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A man kneels in a rocky desert, beating his chest with a stone while praying toward a small wooden cross. A lion sits nearby, and a cardinal’s hat rests on the ground beside an open book. This painting shows Saint Jerome, who lived alone in the wilderness to suffer for his faith. The lion became his friend after he helped it, and the hat and book remind us he later translated the Bible. The skull at the cross is a quiet sign of death. Look up paintings from Italy, Florence or northern Italy, 15th century to see more like this.
In this inhospitable landscape, Saint Jerome appears strong and sure, praying toward a crucifix and holding a rock to beat his chest. Jerome retreated to the desert near Antioch (present-day Turkey) for four years to purify his soul through physical suffering. The cardinal’s hat and book refer to his later work translating the Bible into Latin, and the lion was his companion after he pulled a thorn from its paw. A tree holding a crucifix with a skull at its base refers to Christ’s cross and to Eden. The man at left may be a traveling friar begging for sustenance.
The rock in Saint Jerome's hand was used by the saint to beat his chest when he experienced hallucinations brought on by his isolation in the desert.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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