St. Jerome in the Desert

Cima da Conegliano (Giovanni Battista Cima)

Download hi-res image TITLE St. Jerome in the Desert
AUTHOR Cima da Conegliano (Giovanni Battista Cima)
DATE 1493 - 94
OBJECT TYPE AND MATERIAL Oil on panel
DIMENSIONS cm 37x30
INVENTORY 324
ROOM VII
FIRMA Lamberti Opus
Work on display

St. Jerome is a saint favoured by intellectuals as translator of the Latin Bible. Here the lion is shown as a small cat. On the back is the inscription Opus Lambert which has never been explained, as the work is considered on stylistic grounds to be by Cima da Conegliano. Nevertheless, Boschini, a 17th century art historian speaks of ‘A San Gerolamo hermitage, beautiful, Lamberti’s hand’. Future research may see the attribution changed.

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“The visual ingredients of Jerome in the Desert were well known: rock landscape, blasted trees and the frail hermit saint. (The lion, whose thorn he removes, was optional). Cima’s version here is softer; his Jerome a rather healthy ascetic and the bizarrely small lion more pet dog than savage beast. But the details of the open book and the crucifix commanding Jerome’s eye line emphasise the message of devotion and man’s humility inside the majesty of nature.”
Sarah Dunant