“Saint Jerome in His Study”
This oil on wood panel painting, titled “Saint Jerome in His Study”, was made circa 1530 by the workshop of the Northern Renaissance Flemish artist, Pieter Coecke van Aelst. This workshop created many paintings that were variations on this theme.
Saint Jerome was a scholar who was remembered for translating the Bible from the original Greek and Hebrew into Latin. St. Jerome placing his finger on a human skull, and the Latin phrase, “Cogita Mori” (translated into “Think upon death”), depicted on the wall of the study remind viewers of the imminence of death and the transience of life. The camels in the background represent Palestine, where St. Jerome worked.
There is a similar painting done around the same time by a fellow Northern European Renaissance master, Albrecht Dürer.
“Saint Jerome in His Study” is currently in the collections of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.
For more on Pieter Coecke van Aelst, please visit his short biography here.
You can learn about different art movements here.
