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Lot Essay
This intimate etching, dated 1634, depicts the scholar and hermit Saint Jerome reading seated under a tree. Saint Jerome was one of the four Fathers of the Roman Church and the translator of the biblical texts into the Latin. Rembrandt depicted the saint no fewer than seven times in etchings alone (see also lots 57, 58 & 59). His particular preference for Saint Jerome is significant, given that he was working in the predominantly Protestant Holland of the 17th century, and that saints have no place in the Protestant liturgy. Presumably Jerome was seen by protestants as a precursor to Martin Luther, being the first to make the Bible accessible to the faithful - at least those who could read vulgate Latin. The saint’s scholarly devotion may have also appealed to the artist’s personal sensibilities.
In the present print, Rembrandt has omitted Jerome's habitual attributes, such as his cardinal's hat and a crucifix, leaving only the prominently placed lion to give away the saint's identity. According to the saint's legend, the lion remained faithfully to Jerome after he drew a thorn from its paw during his hermitage in the desert. As in other prints of the subject, Rembrandt here combines the two main iconographies of the saint - in penitence and as a scholar - in one image (see also lots 58 & 59). The ascetic as well as the scholarly and humanist ideals of the 17th century seem to be captured in this image of the saint reading in a landscape - and Rembrandt himself may have enjoyed depicting the figure, the lion and the natural surroundings. In a nod to the traditional iconography of Saint Jerome contemplating or keeping a human skull nearby as a memento mori, Rembrandt has thrown in the skull of a sheep or goat at the lower right corner of the image.
In the present print, Rembrandt has omitted Jerome's habitual attributes, such as his cardinal's hat and a crucifix, leaving only the prominently placed lion to give away the saint's identity. According to the saint's legend, the lion remained faithfully to Jerome after he drew a thorn from its paw during his hermitage in the desert. As in other prints of the subject, Rembrandt here combines the two main iconographies of the saint - in penitence and as a scholar - in one image (see also lots 58 & 59). The ascetic as well as the scholarly and humanist ideals of the 17th century seem to be captured in this image of the saint reading in a landscape - and Rembrandt himself may have enjoyed depicting the figure, the lion and the natural surroundings. In a nod to the traditional iconography of Saint Jerome contemplating or keeping a human skull nearby as a memento mori, Rembrandt has thrown in the skull of a sheep or goat at the lower right corner of the image.