Lot 1010 Dα

The legend of St. Jerome probably originated in Italy, and appears for the first time in the 13th/14th centuries. It soon found its way into hagiographic art and enjoyed particular popularity in the Netherlands, especially 15th century Bruges. The frequency with which the saint was depicted in art testifies to the popularity of his legend. Examples exist by Hans Memling (Basel, Kunstmuseum), the Master of St. Lucy (Banbury, Bearsted Collection), Gerard David (Frankfurt, Städelsches Kunstinstitut), as well as from the circles of Adriaen Isenbrant and Ambrosius Benson. There was also a high demand for images of the Latin church father in Antwerp in the 1520s and 1530s. Both Joos van Cleve and Pieter Coecke van Aelst painted the penitent saint, either in the wilderness or in his study.

The present work depicts the saint clothed in a dark cloak. His red cardinal's robe lies discarded behind the crucifix beside a pile of books representative of his writings and the lion, his loyal companion, accompanies him. Several drops of blood upon the saint's torso and the stone at his right signify his mortification: Jerome wished to feel Christ's pain directly. The scene is depicted beneath an old oak tree on the outskirts of a wood. On the right of the image, the artist has replaced the wilderness with a panoramic landscape reminiscent of those found in the works of Lucas van Gassel. Several travellers are shown on a rural path leading across a stone bridge to a castle or abbey, behind which a windmill stands tall upon a hill. The landscape ends in a mountain range spanning the horizon. The artist paints the scene in vivid colours similar to those used by Coecke van Aelst. The saint's facial features are also reminiscent of those found on figures from van Aelst's works, such as St. Joseph in the “Flight into Egypt” formerly housed in the Mouton Collection in Brussels.