St. Jerome at Prayer (Bosch)
St. Jerome at Prayer | |
---|---|
Artist | Hieronymus Bosch |
Year | c. 1482 |
Medium | Oil on panel |
Dimensions | 77 cm × 59 cm (30 in × 23 in) |
Location | Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent |
St. Jerome at Prayer is a painting of St. Jerome by the Netherlandish artist Hieronymus Bosch, thought to have been completed c. 1482. Today it is housed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent.
History
The work is known only from its acquisition by the museum in 1908. As for most of Bosch's works, dating has been long disputed, dates having varied from 1490–1500 to 1495–1505. However, dendochronologic analysis has proved that it has been painted not after 1482.[1]
Description
St. Jerome was a frequent subject of 15th-century European art, depicted in his studio or during his penitence in the desert. Bosch for this picture adopted the latter iconography, although his saint is prone instead of kneeling. He is praying with a crucifix in his arms, also an unusual gesture of communion with Christ.
Jerome lies on a rock located under a kind of shell-like cave. He is surrounded by his traditional symbols (the lion – although in this case it has a smaller size than usual – the galero, the Bible), but Bosch, as common in his works, also added some bizarre elements, such as the bony pig or the spherical shell emerging from the pool . This could symbolize the world floating towards decay.
An owl and little owl are depicted on a branch: they allude, respectively, to heresy and the struggle against heresy. The Ten Commandments tables can be seen above the cave. The landscape is wide, in green tones.
See also
- List of paintings by Hieronymus Bosch
- The Tricks of Leonardo da Vinci & Hieronymus Bosch. Xavier d'Hérouville & Aurore Caulier. December 2023. HAL Open Science
References
- ^ Varallo, Franca (2004). Bosch. Milan: Skira.
Sources
- Varallo, Franca (2004). Bosch. Milan: Skira.
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- List of paintings
- Adoration of the Magi (New York, c. 1475)
- Christ Child with a Walking Frame (1480s)
- St. Jerome at Prayer (c. 1482)
- Ecce Homo (Frankfurt, c. 1475–1485)
- Crucifixion with a Donor (c. 1480–1485)
- St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness (c. 1489)
- St. John the Evangelist on Patmos/Scenes from the Passion of Christ (c. 1489)
- Hell (after 1490)
- Cutting the Stone (c. 1494)
- Allegory of Gluttony and Lust (c. 1490–1500)
- Christ Carrying the Cross (Vienna, c. 1490–1500)
- Saint Christopher Carrying the Christ Child (c. 1490–1500)
- Ship of Fools (c. 1490–1500)
- Head of a Woman (c. 1500)
- The Wayfarer (c. 1500)
- The Conjurer (c. 1502; disputed)
- Christ Carrying the Cross (Madrid, c. 1505–1507)
- Christ Crowned with Thorns (London, c. 1510)
- Death and the Miser (c. 1490–1516)
- Flood Panels (c. 1514; attributed)
- The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things (c. 1500; disputed)
- The Temptation of St Anthony (Kansas City, c. 1500–1510)
- The Temptation of St Anthony (Madrid, c. 1505–1525; disputed)
- The Last Judgment (Vienna, c. 1482)
- The Hermit Saints (c. 1493)
- The Crucifixion of Saint Wilgefortis (c. 1497)
- Adoration of the Magi (Madrid, c. 1485–1500)
- Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony (c. 1501)
- The Garden of Earthly Delights (c. 1490–1510)
- The Haywain Triptych (c. 1516)
- Fall of the Damned into Hell (before 1490)
- Ascent of the Blessed (c. 1505–1515)
- The Last Judgment (Bruges, c. 1486; with workshop)
- Terrestrial Paradise (c. 1490–1516)
- Adoration of the Magi (Philadelphia, c. 1499)
- Head of a Halberdier (1490s – after 1500)
- The Last Judgment (Munich, c. 1506–1508)
- Paradise and Hell (c. 1510)
- Ecce Homo (Indianapolis, 1510s)
- The Temptation of St Anthony (Utrecht, c. 1525–1530)
- Christ Crowned with Thorns (El Escorial, 1530s)
- Christ Carrying the Cross (Ghent, c. 1510–1535)
- Concert in the Egg (c. 1561)
- Adoration of the Christ Child (c. 1568)
- Death of the Reprobate
- Two Male Heads (c. 1480–1485)
- The Marriage Feast at Cana (after 1550)
- The Owls' Nest (c. 1505–1516)
- Hieronymus Bosch, Touched by the Devil (2015 documentary film)
- Jheronimus Bosch—Visions of Genius (2016 exhibition)