Saint Jerome

Saint Jerome at the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, painted around 1618, depicts the scholar-saint in his study rather than the wilderness. Jerome translating the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate) was a subject that appealed to learned ecclesiastical patrons, and Domenichino gives the scene an intellectual gravity appropriate to his erudite Roman clientele. Characteristic of Domenichino's approach, the work displays dignified, clear compositions, restrained emotion, classical landscape integration.

The scholarly interior is rendered with attention to the books, writing implements, and cardinal's hat that identify Jerome, while dramatic sidelight falling across the saint's aged face conveys focused intellectual concentration.