St. Jerome Praying (1665): Artwork and History

St. Jerome Praying (1665) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Claude Mellan French, 1598-1688.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Penitent and disheveled, Jerome kneels in front of a crucifix and the Bible that he had translated into Latin. In his hand, he clutches the stone that he often used to beat his breast. Behind him, a skull peers out at the viewer, a reminder of the transience of life on earth. Other attributes of Jerome abound: the robe and hat in the foreground signify his appointment to the office of cardinal under Pope Damascus I, the glasses and book represent his learned character, and the lion in the distant background recalls the legend that Jerome once pulled a thorn out of the beast's paw.

Object facts

• Title: St. Jerome Praying
• Date: 1665
• Artist attribution: Claude Mellan French, 1598-1688
• Place of origin: France
• Medium: Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
• Dimensions: Plate: 44.5 × 29.8 cm (17 9/16 × 11 3/4 in.); Sheet: 44.7 × 30.2 cm (17 5/8 × 11 15/16 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1887.284

Collection credit

Elizabeth Hammond Stickney Collection

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.