St. Jerome
Author: Unknown
Origin: Spain
Dating: 17th century
Material: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions (cm): 110,5 x 86,5
Inv. no.: MNAA1523 / PD0587dep
«Along with St. Ambrose, St. Gregory the Great and St. Augustine, St. Jerome was one of the first four Doctors of the Church, so called for the importance they had in the consolidation of Catholic doctrine and theological literature produced.
St. Jerome is credited with translating the Bible into Latin, the Vulgate: the Old Testament, translated from Hebrew; and the Gospels, from Greek. In the 14th century […] the Italian hermit movement created several religious families around the example of this saint’s life. It was from these families that the Jeronymite Order was born in Portugal and Spain. From this “Spanish” Jeronymite group, the Portuguese Vasco Martins returned to the country and found – in Penhalonga, Sintra – the ideal place for the first Portuguese Jeronymite monastery, in 1400 (OLIVEIRA, 2000: 16, 3.º vol.). In Guimarães, in the second decade of the 16th century, the Monastery of Santa Marinha da Costa – until that time, under the rule of St. Augustine – became a Jeronymite monastery, where the future candidate to the throne D. António Prior do Crato and D. Duarte – respectively nephew and son of King João III, both by illegitimate lines – came to study.
The figure of St. Jerome is associated with a trumpet played by one of the angels of the Apocalypse. Very discreet, in the upper right area, the trumpet is almost unnoticeable. Only the bell is visible.»
Eduardo Magalhães
St. Jerome (340/347 AD – 420 AD) was named Eusebius Hieronymus Sophronius, in Stridon, Dalmacia (present-day Croácia). He was from a wealthy, cultured, and Christian family and enjoyed an adventurous youth before going to Rome – to study the classics and rhetoric – and to travel through Gaul and Germany. He was fluent in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.
Around 365 AD, he was baptized by Pope Liberius. Afterwards, he went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, retiring to the Syrian desert where he lived as a hermit.
In 373 AD, according to legend, while going to Antioch (in present-day Turkey), he removed a thorn from the paw of a lion and it became his faithful companion.
Around 386 AD, St. Jerome left Rome and moved definitively to Bethlehem, where he remained as a penitent and studious monk, continuing the biblical translations until his death.
St. Jerome died at the age of about 80, from natural causes, and was buried under the Church of the Nativity (Bethlehem). Later, his relics were transferred to Santa Maria Maggiore, in Rome.
Traditionally, St. Jerome is depicted in the desert or in his study, accompanied by a lion, often with red cardinal’s garments, usually writing. Sometimes, he is also depicted with a white beard, by a skull and a cross, with the aforementioned trumpet or with a stone. He is the patron saint of all who dedicate themselves to the study of the Bible, translators, archaeologists, archivists, librarians and students.
