Saint Jerome penitent

Saint Jerome in Meditation (c. 1605) is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio, now in the Museum of Montserrat, next to the Monastery of Santa Maria, Montserrat (Museu del Monestir de Santa Maria).

Saint Jerome, hermit, Father of the Church, and responsible for the translation of the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate Bible), was a popular figure in Caravaggio's time, and the artist painted him at least eight times (only three survive). Whether this was from personal choice or at the request of patrons is unknown, but it gave Caravaggio the opportunity to explore the potential – from an artist's perspective – of aged and wrinkled flesh. Jerome is shown here contemplating one of his symbols, the skull, a reminder of the inevitability of death and the vanity of worldly things.

The painting is probably from the Giustiniani collection (the collection of Caravaggio's patron the banker …

摘自英文维基百科「Saint Jerome in Meditation (Caravaggio)」（CC BY-SA 4.0），暂时没有中文条目。