Botticini, Francesco (1446-1498)
San Girolamo in penitenza con santi e donatori (Saint Jerome in Penitence with Saints and Donors)
c.1490
Tempera on poplar, 235 × 258 cm
National Gallery, London
This is the main panel of the S. Gerolamo Altarpiece, one of the most important works of the Florentine painter Francesco Botticini. It is named after Saint Jerome (Gerolamo or Girolamo in Italian), the figure prominently depicted at its centre, and the church dedicated to him where it originally stood.
Saint Jerome was a celebrated fourth-century theologian. He is shown here clutching the stone that, according to his legend, he pounded against his chest to help him resist temptation. During the fifteenth century, a cult dedicated to the saint found many followers, leading to the establishment of numerous religious houses across the Italian Peninsula. The church of S. Gerolamo in Fiesole, a small town in the hills above Florence, was the regional centre of the Hieronymites.
The patron of the altarpiece, the Florentine patrician Girolamo di Piero di Cardinale Rucellai, kneels to the left of the framed image of Saint Jerome, opposite his son. (NG)
S. Gerolamo Altarpiece:
Botticini, Francesco (1446-1498)
Pala di San Gerolamo
c.1490
National Gallery, London
Predella:
Botticini, Francesco (1446-1498)
Scene della vita di san Girolamo
c.1490
National Gallery, London