Course Readings: Web Gallery

Vision of Saint Jerome, Fresco, Santissima Annunziata, Florence, Italy (1455) by Andrea del Castagno

Artists usually represented Saint Jerome as a studious type, a fitting gesture since he produced the Latin translation of the Bible, otherwise known as the Vulgate. Early in his life, however, Saint Jerome had lived an ascetic life in the desert outside Antioch. Later, he wrote a famous letter describing the torments he suffered during this period. Plagued by visions of Roman pleasure, he fasted in the almost unbearable desert heat. The pain and doubt caused by this episode form the basis of this painting.

Out in the desert, Saint Jerome has beaten himself on the chest with a rock as a form of punishment (see the rock in his right hand and the blood on his chest). Above him floats the Holy Trinity. Christ wears not a crown of thorns, but a rope of flagellation atop his head. This novel element might have come about because the patron, Girolamo (Jerome) dei Corboli, belonged to the Girolamite community of flagellants. On the left stands Saint Paola, and on the right, her daughter, Saint Eustochium, both assistants of Saint Jerome (which gave rise to much gossip). According to tradition, Saint Jerome drew a thorn from a lion's paw, and the beast faithfully accompanied him for years—which accounts for the presence of the big cat. A cardinal's hat appears at Saint Jerome's feet—another symbol frequently associated with this saint.