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Saint Jerome as Scholar

ca. 1610
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 619
El Greco executed at least five paintings of Saint Jerome. In this version, from the last years of the painter's life, the saint is shown in the red vestments of a cardinal, seated before an open book, an attribute indicating his role as translator of the Bible from Greek into Latin in the fifth century. His gaunt features and long white beard refer to his familiar guise as a penitent, recalling his retreat to the Syrian desert. The painting is notable for the novel way in which the artist synthesized the two aspects of Saint Jerome, the scholarly and the ascetic.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Saint Jerome as Scholar
  • Artist: El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) (Greek, Iráklion (Candia) 1541–1614 Toledo)
  • Date: ca. 1610
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 42 1/2 x 35 1/16 in. (108 x 89 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.146
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

Audio

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4785. Saint Jerome as Scholar

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