Saint Jerome in his study

Peter Schatborn has noted that the broad outlines are particularly typical of Hoogstraten and can be compared to those in his drawings of The Supper at Emmaus (Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet, inv. A 3516; W. Sumowski, Drawings of the Rembrandt School, New York, 1981, vol. V, no. 1228) and Isaac Blessing Jacob (Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, inv. 11984; Sumowski, op. cit., no. 1234). Both comparable drawings date from circa 1658, which provides a plausible dating for the present work. A similar use of a draped curtain to frame and contain the scene can be seen in The Circumcision (Frankfurt, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, inv. 851; Sumowski, op. cit., no. 1182) and The Young Christ in his Parents' House (Dordrechts Museum, inv. 2207; Sumowski, op. cit., no. 1193a). The presence of a triptych in the background recalls Rembrandt's etching of Abraham Francen, apothecary (Hind 291), executed at approximately the same date as the present drawing, circa 1657, emphasising the way in which certain of the master's motifs were absorbed and repeated by his assistants.

We are grateful to Peter Schatborn for confirming the attribution on examination of the original.