Saint Jérôme en méditation.

Giorgio Vasari's Saint Jérôme en méditation (Saint Jerome in Meditation), painted around 1550 in oil on canvas and now in the Musée Fesch in Ajaccio, belongs to the rich tradition of penitent saint imagery that flourished in the Counter-Reformation. Jerome, the fourth-century scholar who translated the Bible into Latin, was one of the most frequently depicted saints of the period — shown in his desert retreat performing penance, surrounded by the skull and crucifix of mortality, and engaged in the theological study for which he was celebrated. Vasari's treatment would bring his characteristic Mannerist refinement to this ascetic subject, balancing the required suggestion of physical austerity with the figure's intellectual dignity as a scholar-saint. The Musée Fesch, founded by Cardinal Joseph Fesch — Napoleon's uncle — holds one of the finest collections of Italian painting in France outside Paris.

The oil on canvas medium allowed Vasari to develop the rich tonal contrasts appropriate to the penitent saint's cave or desert setting. The saint's aged, gaunt body would be modelled with observed naturalism in the flesh, contrasting with the polished, detailed rendering of the scholarly attributes — books, letters, the cardinal's hat Jerome anachronistically received.