Saint Jerome

Jerome — the scholarly church father who translated the Bible into Latin, retreated into the desert as a hermit, and was traditionally depicted with a lion he supposedly befriended — appears here in one of Schiavone's polyptych panels from 1458. Jerome's scholarly association made him the patron saint of libraries and translators, and his dual identity as intellectual and penitent ascetic gave artists the choice of depicting the learned cardinal or the desert hermit. Schiavone's version belongs to the same polyptych group as the other National Gallery panels, suggesting a consistent iconographic programme devised for the complete altarpiece.

Jerome is depicted either in cardinal's robes with scholarly attributes or in the rough garment of a desert penitent with a lion at his feet. The panel's position within the polyptych would have dictated which version Schiavone depicted.