Saint Jerome in Meditation (Caravaggio)

Saint Jerome in Meditation
Italian: San Girolamo in meditazione

Artist	Caravaggio
Year	c. 1605
Type	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	140.5 cm × 101.5 cm (55.3 in × 40.0 in)
Location	Museum of Montserrat, Montserrat

Saint Jerome in Meditation (c. 1605) is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio, now in the Museum of Montserrat, next to the Monastery of Santa Maria, Montserrat (Museu del Monestir de Santa Maria).^[1]

Saint Jerome, hermit, Father of the Church, and responsible for the translation of the Bible into Latin, (the Vulgate Bible) was a popular figure in Caravaggio's time, and the artist painted him at least eight times (only three survive). Whether this was from personal choice or at the request of patrons is unknown, but it gave Caravaggio the opportunity to explore the potential - from an artist's perspective - of aged and wrinkled flesh. Jerome is shown here contemplating one of his symbols, the skull, a reminder of the inevitability of death and the vanity of worldly things.

The painting is probably from the Giustiniani collection (the collection of Caravaggio's patron the banker Vincenzo Giustiniani and his brother the cardinal Benedetto). Benedetto built up a large collection of religious works by the artist, and a St Jerome of the same dimensions as this one is in the Giustiniani inventory of 1638.

Caravaggio biographer Peter Robb points out that the brooding, introverted mood of this painting is strikingly similar to that of a John the Baptist, now in Kansas City, painted at about the same time.

References

↑ Museum of Montserrat. The surprise of art. Barcelona, 2011. ISBN 978-84-9979-006-0

Works by Caravaggio

1593–1594	Boy Peeling Fruit (c. 1592) Young Sick Bacchus (c. 1593) Boy with a Basket of Fruit The Fortune Teller (Buona ventura) (c. 1594) Cardsharps (I bari) (c. 1594)

1595–1599 Del Monte paintings	The Musicians (c. 1595) Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy (c. 1595) Boy Bitten by a Lizard (c. 1596) The Lute Player (c. 1596) Bacchus (c. 1596) Penitent Magdalene (c. 1597) Rest on the Flight into Egypt (c. 1597) Medusa (c. 1597) Portrait of a Courtesan (Fillide Melandroni) (c. 1597) Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto (c. 1597) Saint Catherine of Alexandria (c. 1598) The Sacrifice of Isaac (Princeton version) (c. 1598) John the Baptist (c. 1598) Martha and Mary Magdalene (c. 1598) Portrait of Maffeo Barberini (1598) Basket of Fruit (c. 1599) Judith Beheading Holofernes (c. 1599) David and Goliath (c. 1599) Narcissus (c. 1599)

1600–1606 Most famous painter in Rome	The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599–1600) The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew (1599–1600) The Conversion of Saint Paul (1600) The Crucifixion of Saint Peter (1601) The Conversion of Saint Paul on the Road to Damascus (1601) Supper at Emmaus (London) (1601) The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew Amor Victorious (1602) Saint Matthew and the Angel (1602) The Inspiration of Saint Matthew (1602) The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (c. 1602) The Taking of Christ (1602) The Entombment of Christ (c. 1603) Madonna of Loreto (Madonna dei Pellegrini, Pilgrims' Madonna) (c. 1604) The Crowning with Thorns (Prato) (1604) The Death of the Virgin (1604) Saint Francis in Meditation (c. 1603) Christ on the Mount of Olives (1605) Ecce Homo (c. 1605) Saint Jerome in Meditation (c. 1605) Saint Jerome Writing (Borghese) (c. 1605) Portrait of Pope Paul V (1605) Still Life with Fruit (1605) Madonna and Child with St. Anne (Madonna de Palafrenieri, Grooms' Madonna) (1606)

1606–1608 Naples and Malta	Mary Magdalen in Ecstasy (1606) Saint Francis in Prayer (Cremona) (1606) Supper at Emmaus (Milan) (1606) The Seven Works of Mercy (1606) The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew (1607) David with the Head of Goliath (Vienna) (1607) Madonna of the Rosary (1607) The Crowning with Thorns (Vienna) (1607) The Flagellation of Christ (c. 1607) Christ at the Column (c. 1607) Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (London) (c. 1607) Saint Jerome Writing (Valletta) (1607) Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt and his Page (1607–1608) Portrait of Fra Antionio Martelli (1608) The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (1608) Sleeping Cupid (1608)

1608–1610 Sicily and Naples	The Annunciation (1608) Burial of St. Lucy (1608) The Raising of Lazarus (1609) Adoration of the Shepherds (1609) Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence (1609) Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (Madrid) (1609) Denial of Saint Peter (1610) The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula (1610) David with the Head of Goliath (1610)

Paintings attributed to Caravaggio

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