Guercino (1591-1666)
San Girolamo nel deserto (St Jerome in the Wilderness)
c.1650
Oil on canvas, 217 x 164.5 cm
Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
St Jerome (c. 340-420) was a biblical scholar and one of the fathers of the Church and spent many years alone in the wilderness, living the life of a hermit. Whilst studying and meditating in the wilderness, he heard the sound of the Last Trump echoing from the skies, announcing the coming of the Last Judgment (see Jacopo da Voragine, The Golden Legend, CXVII:i). In Guercino‘s painting this event takes place just before dawn, when only a narrow strip of light divides the dark earth from the night sky. Forgetting his labours, Jerome looks up in surprise to where he sees a trumpeting angel in a break in the sky. The beautiful grey head of Saint Jerome and his idealised body, showing no signs of advancing age, recall the images of the ancient gods. Open folios laying on a stone nearby indicate that Jerome was deep in study when he as interrupted by the angel of God. (SHM)