Virgin and Child with Saint Jerome

The Virgin and Child with Saint Jerome, painted around 1477 and now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, dates from Pinturicchio"s early period when he was still closely connected to Perugino"s workshop. Jerome"s presence adds a scholarly, contemplative dimension to the devotional image. The Boston museum"s collection of Italian Renaissance painting includes several works from the Umbrian school. Pinturicchio — Bernardino di Betto — was the master of decorative fresco in late fifteenth-century Rome, executing major commissions for Pope Innocent VIII in the Belvedere, Pope Alexander VI in the Borgia Apartments, and Pope Pius III in the Piccolomini Library in Siena.

The early work shows Pinturicchio"s developing technique, with the Umbrian clarity of light and gentle modeling of flesh already characteristic. The figure of Jerome with his traditional attributes—book, cardinal"s hat, lion—is rendered with the decorative precision that would become Pinturicchio"s hallmark. The landscape background is still relatively simple compared to his mature work. The palette features the warm, clear colors of Perugino"s circle.