Saint Jerome, Alessandro Bonvicino, known as Moretto (Brescia, circa 1498 – 1554) Workshop of

Lombard School of the 16th Century
Workshop of Alessandro Bonvicino, known as Moretto (Brescia, circa 1498 – 1554)

San Girolamo

Oil on canvas (81 x 68 cm. – In fine antique frame 98 x 85 cm.)

provenance:
Pandolfini Florence, 29 September 2020 (Lombard School, 161th century, lot 10.000, estimate €15.000 / XNUMX)
https://www.pandolfini.it/uk/auction-1005/scuola-lombarda-sec-xvi-1-12020006477

Full details of the work (Click HERE)

Valuable representation of Saint Jerome, a doctor of the Church who lived between the 4th and 5th centuries, portrayed here according to the typical iconography that sees him in the dual role of a penitent hermit in the desert and a humanist intent on reading, in a deserted and wild landscape at the bottom of which opens up the view of a city, emblem of the contrast between nature and civilization.

The multifaceted figure of Saint Jerome, hermit, penitent, cardinal and fine humanist, who translated the Bible into Latin, enjoyed great success in Lombardy between the 15th and 16th centuries, a supreme example of the harmony between classical knowledge and Christian virtue.

It was therefore a subject dear to a refined and cultured public, often illustrated in small-scale works intended for private devotion.

His gaze, intensely thoughtful, is directed towards the open book, his canonical iconographic attribute, referring to his fruitful activity as a scholar and theologian, which made him the forerunner of the Renaissance humanist.

This is a work of remarkable quality for its illustrative clarity, pictorial refinement and chromatic sensitivity, a testimony of the mature Renaissance, painted in the Lombardy area around the end of the sixteenth century, and precisely indebted to the models conceived by Alessandro Bonvicino, known as Moretto (Brescia, circa 1498 – 1554), one of the leading artists of the early Brescian Renaissance, who approached the subject several times with multiple illustrative methods.

Devotional paintings such as this one constituted one of Bonvicino's most significant productions, and the fact that no strictly analogous images are found suggests that the canvas should be included in the extremely complex catalogue of works produced by the workshop, presumably under the supervision of the master himself.

The Venetian influence is strongly felt in the work: both the pictorial manner and the colouring, dominated by the bright green of the drapery that envelops the Saint, are elements that recall the works of Titian.

Behind Saint Jerome, beyond the space of a window, one can see a wide hilly landscape with a clear sky with few clouds, characterised by a vivid blue, characteristic of the artist from Brescia.

The figure of Saint Jerome frequently appears in the painter's paintings, many of which have been lost, but of which traces remain in literary sources; in particular, the chromatic, light and tonal intonation of the image, although more composed and traditional, can recall the Saint Jerome in meditation from the Borromeo collection on Isola Bella, datable between 1540 and 1545 (imm.1 – https://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/opere-arte/schede/C0050-00086/).
The figure, the face and the attitude evoke the Saint Luke of the Chapel of the Sacrament in San Giovanni Evangelista (image 2 – https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/HistoricOrArtisticProperty/0300044732), while the type of tunic with the knot on the shoulder can be found in one of the apostles present in the Assumption of the Duomo Vecchio (image 3 – https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Assunzione_della_Vergine_%28Moretto_Duomo_vecchio%29.jpg), or in the Madonna with Child and Saint Jerome from the Private Collection (image 4 – https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Madonna_con_bambino_e_san_Girolamo.jpg).

These clues therefore seem to confirm the close relationship between the work and the artist's production.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The painting is sold complete with a pleasant antique frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic card.

We take care of and organize the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers.
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