Saint Jerome in the Wilderness

c. 1475

In front of a crumbling stone building, an older man kneels in front of a second man, smaller in scale, hanging from a tall, wooden cross, with a city in the background in this vertical painting. Both men have pale skin. At the lower center of the composition, the kneeling man, Saint Jerome, pulls his navy-blue robe to one side to expose his muscular but slender bare chest with a bloody mark at its center. With his other hand, he holds a rounded, gray stone touched with pink, also suggesting blood, by his side. He has long, silvery-gray hair and a long, pointed beard. His pink lips are parted, and we see his teeth. He raises gray eyes to look up at the man on the slender cross, which rises along the left edge of the composition. The man on the cross brown hair, a plate-like gold halo, and a white loincloth is draped across his hips. The shell-pink ground is littered with rocks. A red hat with a shallow brim and a tasseled chin cord sits near Saint Jerome’s sandaled feet. A miniature lion lies between Saint Jerome and the arched opening of the crumbling, terracotta-red structure along the right edge of the painting. Ivy grows up one side of the arch, and an hourglass and book with a red cover and gold-edged pages sit on a white cloth under the opening. An owl perches on a branch of an oak tree growing from the front face of the structure, and a hawk sits on a branch of the fruit tree growing from the stone courtyard, between Saint Jerome and the crucifix. A shrub with dark green leaves and clusters of three olive-green fruits fills in most of the space beneath the canopy of the fruit tree. To our right and in the distance, a man with a pointed black hat, a black jacket, and white pants rides away from us on a gray horse. To our left, the courtyard gives way to an amphitheater-like space. There, next to a donkey, a man with a long white beard hands a bundle of wood or planks to another man whose brown hair is cut into a ring encircling his head. Both men wear rose-pink garments over navy-blue togas. A town with white and pale pink stone buildings rises up a hill into the distance. The sky above deepens from honeydew green along the horizon to pale then peacock blue along the top edge of the composition. A few ice-blue, white, and light gray clouds float across the sky.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    tempera on poplar panel

  • Credit Line

    Andrew W. Mellon Collection

  • Dimensions

    painted surface: 78.4 x 53 cm (30 7/8 x 20 7/8 in.)
    support: 80.7 x 55 cm (31 3/4 x 21 5/8 in.)
    framed: 102.6 x 76.2 cm (40 3/8 x 30 in.)

  • Accession

    1937.1.32

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Ugo Bardini, Paris; sold 1925 to (Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London); sold 1925 to (Arthur J. Sulley & Co., London).[1] Otto H. Kahn [1867-1934, Mogmar Art Foundation], New York, by 1927; (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); purchased 26 April 1937 by The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[2] gift 1937 to NGA.
[1] Ugo Bardini was the son of the dealer Stefano Bardini, Florence (1836-1922); it is possible that the painting had been owned by the father. The painting is listed in Agnew's stock book, no. 6494, as "Mantegna, St. Jerome," no dimensions, with seller and purchaser (reference provided by the Getty Provenance Index). Alfred M. Frankfurter, "Paintings by Andrea Mantegna in America," The Antiquarian 13, no. 4 (November 1929): 88, states that the painting "came to America from a moderately well known English collection."
[2] Kahn is identified as the owner in the following: Lionello Venturi, "Un opera inedita di Andrea Mantegna," L'Arte 30 (1927): 32; Alfred M. Frankfurter, "Paintings by Andrea Mantegna in America," Antiquarian 13, no. 4 (November 1929): 33; Lionello Venturi, Pitture italiane in America, Milan, 1931: 9, and English ed., New York, 1933: 31; Bernard Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance, Oxford, 1932: 328, and Italian ed., Milan, 1936: 291); Roberto Longhi, "Risarcimento di un Mantegna," Pan II, no. 3 (March 1934): 512; Hans Tietze, Meisterwerke europäischer Malerei in Amerika, Vienna, 1935: 327, and English ed., 1939: 311. The Duveen prospectus states that the painting, then said to be by Mantegna, was "discovered in an English private collection in 1927, when it was acquired by...Kahn...in whose collection it remained until 1936" (copy in NGA curatorial files). However, letters in the Duveen Brothers Records indicate the painting was not purchased from the Mogmar Art Foundation until 14 April 1937, and that payment was made to the Foundation on April 28, just after Duveen Brothers sold the painting to the Mellon Trust (copies in NGA curatorial files; Box 473, Folder 1, Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles).

Associated Names

Bibliography

1927

  • Venturi, Lionello. “Un opera inedita di Andrea Mantegna.” L’Arte 30 (1927): 32-33, repro., as by Andrea Mantegna.

1929

  • Frankfurter, Alfred M. “Paintings by Andrea Mantegna in America.” Antiquarian 13, no. 4 (November 1929): 33, 88-90, repro., as by Andrea Mantegna.

1931

  • Venturi, Lionello. Pitture italiane in America. Milan, 1931: pl. 257, as by Andrea Mantegna.

1932

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Works with an Index of Places. Oxford, 1932: 326, as by Andrea Mantegna.

1933

  • Venturi, Lionello. Italian Paintings in America. 3 vols. New York and Milan, 1933: 2:pl. 338, as by Andrea Mantegna.

1934

  • Longhi, Roberto. “Risarcimento di un Mantegna.” Pan 3 (1934): 512.

1935

  • Tietze, Hans. Meisterwerke europäischer Malerei in Amerika. Vienna, 1935: 327, pl. 63. English ed. New York, 1939: 311, pl. 63. English ed. Masterpieces of European Painting in America. New York, 1939: 311, pl. 63.

1936

  • Berenson, Bernard. Pitture italiane del rinascimento. Milan, 1936: 291, as by Andrea Mantegna.

1937

  • Fiocco, Giuseppe. Mantegna. Milan, 1937: 25, as by Andrea Mantegna.

  • “Mellon Adds Seven Masterworks to America’s National Gallery.” Art Digest 11, no. 17 (1 June 1937): 8, repro.

  • “More Mellon Gifts to the National Gallery.” Art News 35, no. 35 (29 May 1937): 11, repro.

1941

  • Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 74, repro., as by Andrea Mantegna.

  • Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 121, no. 32, as by Andrea Mantegna.

  • “America’s National Gallery Opens amid War and Social Upheaval.” Art Digest 15, no. 13 (1941): 6, repro.

1942

  • Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 239, repro. 144, as by Andrea Mantegna.

1945

  • “Italian Paintings in the Andrew W. Mellon Collection.” Connoisseur 115, no. 496 (June 1945): 115-116, repro.

1949

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 25, repro., as by Andrea Mantegna.

1955

  • Tietze, Hans, and Erika Tietze-Conrat. Mantegna. Paintings Drawings Engravings. New York, 1955: 202, pl. 22, as by a Ferrarese Follower of Francesco Squarcione (?).

1956

  • Cipriani, Renata. Tutta la pittura del Mantegna. Milan, 1956: 82, pl. 176, as among works attributed to Andrea Mantegna.

1957

  • Boeck, Wilhelm. “Review of Tietze and Tietze-Conrat, Mantegna (1955).” Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 20, no. 2 (1957): 198.

1962

  • Ragghianti, Carlo L. "Codicillo mantegnesco." Critica d'Arte 52 (1962): 39-40.

1963

  • Cipriani, Renata. All the Paintings of Mantegna. 2 vols. New York, 1963: 2:102, pl. 176.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 82, as by Andrea Mantegna.

1967

  • Garavaglia, Niny. L’opera completa del Mantegna. Milan, 1967: 87.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 73, repro., as by Andrea Mantegna.

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Central Italian and North Italian Schools. 3 vols. London, 1968: 1:242, as by Andrea Mantegna.

1972

  • Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972: 118, 409, 645, as Attributed to Andrea Mantegna.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 212, repro., as by Andrea Mantegna.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. Washington, 1979: 1:348; 2:pl. 253, as by Paduan-Ferrarese School, c. 1460.

1980

  • Friedmann, Herbert. A Bestiary for Saint Jerome: Animal Symbolism in European Religious Art. Washington, DC, 1980: 211, 213, 280, fig. 148.

1983

  • Lattanzi, Marco, and Marica Mercalli. “Il tema del San Girolamo nell’eremo nella cultura veneta tra Quattrocento e Cinquecento.” In Bruno Contardi and Augusto Gentili, eds. Il S. Girolamo di Lorenzo Lotto a Castel S. Angelo. Exh. cat. Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome, 1983: 71-78, 92, pl. 43.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 116, no. 95, color repro., as by Andrea Mantegna.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 298, repro.

1986

  • Lightbown, Ronald. Mantegna. Oxford, 1986: 476-477, pl. 193, as among the paintings attributed to the young Andrea Mantegna.

1987

  • Russo, Daniel. Saint Jérome en Italie: Étude d’iconographie et de spiritualité XIIIe-XVe siècle. Paris and Rome, 1987: 203, 211, fig. 35.

1994

  • Echols, Robert. “Cima and the Theme of Saint Jerome in the Wilderness.” Venezia Cinquecento 4, no. 8 (July – December 1994): 47, fig. 1.

1999

  • Benzi, Fabio, and Luigi Berliocchi. Paesaggio mediterraneo. Metamorfosi e storia dall’antichità preclassical al XIX secolo. Milan, 1999: 87, 89.

2003

  • Boskovits, Miklós, and David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 2003: 444-447, color repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20174231

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