St Jerome.
Leonardo's unfinished masterpiece.
Leonardo da Vinci's "St Jerome"
has an unusual history.
Before being discovered by Cardinal
Fesch at a sale in Rome in 1820, the panel was used as the door of a
small wardrobe. The top part of the panel showing the saints head was
missing. This missing panel was found (remarkably by the same Cardinal)
in a shoemakers shop in 1825.
The painting was restored and placed in
the Vatican gallery.
"St
Jerome", oil on panel 130 x 75cm. Rome, Vatican. 1481-1482.(s)
The landscape is typical Leonardo, as is
the unfinished figure of the Saint who is portrayed as an ascetic,
living his life in the desert or countryside and devoting his life to
god.
Jerome spent the last thirty-four years
of his life living in a hermit's cell near Bethlehem. His translation
of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew is one of his greatest
works and resulted in his canonization by the Catholic Church.
Detail.
(s)
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