Scripture, desert and penance · Saint Jerome

Caravaggio, Dürer and Patinier show Jerome as a translator leaning over the book, a meditative old man and penitent retired in a vast landscape.

Jerome was born in the 4th century and became one of the great scholars of the Latin Christian tradition. His translation of the Bible, called Vulgate, explains the importance of the book, the pen and the study in his iconography. Caravaggio represents it in meditation or writing: the skull, the aged skin and the concentrated light bring together intellectual work and awareness of death. Dürer places the saint in the desert, a place of penance and inner struggle. Patinier enlarges this withdrawal to the point of making the landscape a complete world where the small figure measures its isolation. The lion, according to legend cared for by Jerome, often accompanies the saint. The red cardinal hat, good that anachronistic also allows us to identify it. The "Saint Jerome" selection notably compares Saint Jerome in meditation - Caravaggio and Saint Jerome writing - Caravaggio. His reading favors figures.

Jerome translates, meditates and withdraws: the book and the desert give two spaces to the same search for truth.