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.
