St.
Jerome (or
St. Hieronymus) with Ambrose, Augustine and Gregory
is one of the four Latin Doctors of the Church. Born in Dalmatia around
A.D. 340, he came to Rome to learn Greek and Latin, there he was baptized
and traveled to Holy Land. He retired to the Syrian Desert for 3 years.
Returning to Rome in 382, he got acquainted with Pope Damasus, who persuaded
him to make Latin translations of Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. Jerome
dedicated the rest of his life to this substantial task, first in Rome,
then in Palestine. He finished his translation after years of colossal
work and died in Bethlehem in 420. His translation has been revised and
supplemented more than once, but is recognized by the Roman Catholic Church
as the official version of the Bible.
The legend embellished Jerome’s life as a hermit and scholar; the fantastic
are included, such as the temptation, to which he was subjected in the
desert, his visions, and his lion, which he had tamed by removing a thorn
from its paw. In fine arts he is depicted with Bible, accompanied by a
lion.
See: Albrecht Altdorfer The
Penitence of St. Jerome.
Antonello da Messina. St.
Jerome in His Study. St. Jerome
Praying.
Fra Bartolommeo The
Annunciation, with Saints Margaret, Mary Magdalene, Paul, John the Baptist,
Jerome and Francis.
Giovanni Bellini. St. Jerome
in the Desert. St. Jerome Reading.
St.
Christopher, St. Jerome, and St. Louis.
Hieronymus Bosch St. Jerome,
St.
Jerome at Prayer.
Alessandro Botticelli Coronation
of the Virgin with the Saints John the Evangelist, Augustine, Jerome and
Eligius. (San Marco altarpiece); Lamentation
over the Dead Christ with the Saints Jerome, Paul and Peter; Last Communion
of St. Jerome, St. Jerome.
Agnolo Bronzino. St.
Jerome in Penitence.
Caravaggio St.
Jerome, St. Jerome.
Vittore Carpaccio. Funeral
of St. Jerome. Life of St.
Jerome: Vision of St. Augustine. St.
Jerome Leads the Lion into the Monastery.
Andrea del Castagno. The
Vision of St. Jerome. Madonna
and Child with Angels, SS. John the Baptist and Jerome, and Two Youths
from the Pazzi Household.
Cima da Conegliano. St.
Jerome in the Desert, St. Jerome in
the Wilderness.
Albrecht Dürer St.
Jerome in the Wilderness, St. Jerome
in His Study, St. Jerome.
Anthony van Dyck St.
Jerome.
Francesco Fontebasso. St.
Jerome's Vision of the Virgin.
Domenico Ghirlandaio St.
Jerome.
Giotto. Vault of
the Doctors of the Church, St. Jerome.
Jan Gossaert. St. Jerome
Penitent.
Benozzo Gozzoli. St.
Jerome Pulling a Thorn from a Lion's Paw. The
Departure of St. Jerome from Antioch.
El Greco St. Jerome.St.
Jerome as Cardinal.
Georges de La Tour. St.
Jerome Reading, Repenting of St.
Jerome, Repenting of St. Jerome,
St.
Jerome Reading, St. Jerome Reading.
Leonardo da Vinci St.
Hieronymus
Fra Filippo Lippi The Adoration
with St. Joseph, St. Jerome, Mary Magdalene and St. Ilarion.
Lorenzo Lotto St. Jerome
in the Desert, St. Jerome in the Desert,
Madonna
and Child with St. Jerome, St. Joseph and St. Anne.
Masaccio St. Jerome and
St. Augustine.
Joahim Patinir. Landscape
with St. Jerome. St. Jerome in
the Desert.
Pietro Perugino. St.
Jerome Supporting Two Men on the Gallows, St.
Jerome in the Wilderness.
Piero della Francesca. St.
Jerome Penitent. St. Jerome and a
Donor.
Pontormo. The Penitence
of St. Jerome.
Nicolas Poussin Landscape
with St. Jerome.
Raphael Madonna
with the Christ Child Blessing and St. Jerome and St. Francis (Von der
Ropp Madonna).
Jusepe de Ribera. St.
Jerome Hears the Trumpet, St. Jerome
and the Angel of Judgment.
Peter Paul Rubens St. Jerome.
St.
Jerome in His Hermitage.
Luca Signorelli. SS.
Catherine of Siena, Mary Magdalene and Jerome.
Jacopo Robusti, called Tintoretto. Saint
Jerome in the Wilderness.
Paolo Veronese. Saint Jerome
in the Wilderness.
Rogier van der Weyden St.
Jerome, Sforza Triptych. St.
Jerome and St. George.
Recommended reading:
The
Book of Saints: The Lives of the Saints According to the Liturgical Calendar
by George Angelini, Victor Hoagland (Editor). Regina Press, Malhame &
Company, 1986.
365
Saints: Your Daily Guide to the Wisdom and Wonder of Their Lives
by Woodeene Koenig-Brick (Author). Harper SanFrancisco, 1995.
Jerome:
His Life, Writings, and Controversies by J. N. D. Kelly. Duckworth,
1975.