St. Jerome

St. Jerome prays before a crucifix while fasting in the desert. He beats his chest with a rock in an act of penance. Jerome’s common attribute, a skull, is traced into the stone beside his feet. The painter has substituted Jerome’s characteristic red cardinal robes for classical drapery. By representing the saint with an idealized male body, Agostino places himself in the lineage of great Renaissance artists—above all Michelangelo.

Agostino studied Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling while assisting his brother Annibale in the painting of the Farnese Palace in Rome. The frescoes of the palace allude explicitly to Michelangelo and his mastery of the male nude. Agostino labored meticulously on his portrayal of Jerome, producing many preparatory drawings. He then executed an engraving of the painting, the final work he made before his death in 1602.