How you can use this image
This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).
Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.
The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.
Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.
Buy a print or image licence
You can purchase this reproduction
If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.
Notes
Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.
Saint Jerome kneels in penitence in the wilderness, where he spent four years living as a hermit. He has discarded his red cardinal's robes and hat, revealing his colossal, muscular body. The strong light emphasises the athleticism of his physique, casting his pensive face into shadow. He touches his heart with his hand as he gazes upon the image of Christ on the Cross. As a reminder of death and his own scholarship (Jerome translated the Bible into Latin), his open book rests on a human skull. Behind Jerome is the now-docile lion, from whose paw he removed a thorn.The rocky landscape of swirling waters beneath a crystalline blue sky is reminiscent of the work of Leonardo; the classical ruins and the tall stone pine silhouetted against the sky like a vision of the countryside outside Rome.
Title
Saint Jerome in Penitence
Date
probably about 1535-45
Medium
Oil on wood
Measurements
H 141 x W 111.8 cm
Accession number
NG3947
Acquisition method
Mond Bequest, 1924
Work type
Painting
The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England
-
The Madonna and Child with Saints Peter and Catherine of Siena and a Carthusian Donor The National Gallery, London -
Saint Jerome in Penitence The National Gallery, London -
Head of Christ The National Gallery, London -
The Madonna and Child The National Gallery, London -
The Nativity with the Infant Baptist and Shepherds The National Gallery, London