Saint Jerome
Carlo Crivelli1476
The National Gallery, London
London, United Kingdom
This bearded cardinal once stood at the left side of a small altarpiece that Crivelli painted for a side chapel in the church of San Domenico, in Ascoli Piceno in the Italian Marche. This is Saint Jerome, one of the Fathers of the Church and a favourite saint of the Dominican Order as a defender of the Catholic faith against heresy.
He is lost in contemplation, gazing down at the small brick church he holds in his left hand. In his right hand he holds a bound book of the Bible, which he had translated into Latin; golden rays emanating from the church’s door and window stand for the light his works cast on Church doctrine. At his feet, a tame lion sits on the edge of his robes, gazing up in trusting expectation and raising its paw, which is pierced by a long thorn; Jerome was supposed to have removed it.
- Title: Saint Jerome
- Creator: Carlo Crivelli
- Date Created: 1476
- Physical Dimensions: 91 x 26 cm
- Medium: Tempera on poplar
- School: Italian
- More Info: Explore the National Gallery’s paintings online
- Artist Dates: about 1430/5 - about 1494
- Artist Biography: Crivelli was born in Venice and probably trained with Squarcione in Padua. He spent most of his life in the Marches (eastern central Italy), after periods in Venice and Zara. Crivelli was active as a painter by 1457 when he was condemned in Venice for adultery. He was very successful as a maker of altarpieces in the Marches. These are especially well represented in the Collection. Crivelli was influenced by the Vivarini at an early stage. From Squarcione, or one of his pupils such as Giorgio Schiavone, Crivelli could learn simulated marble architecture; festoons of fruit; parchment cartellini and music-making putti. Venetian painting up to this point had been dominated by the Late Gothic style, such as that of Jacopo Bellini and his son Gentile. Crivelli was a fine technical painter and his pictures are in a good state of preservation. He had a strong linear decorative sense and was a brilliant colourist. His work was particularly appreciated in the 19th century, as witnessed by the price paid for the Gallery's 'Madonna della Rondine'.
- Acquisition Credit: Bought, 1868
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