Painting of the Month
Cosimo Tura: 'Saint Jerome'
How does Tura demonstrate the extent of Jerome’s suffering, whilst at the same time showing us that his faith will protect him?
According to 13th century text The Golden Legend, Jerome’s penance in the desert was a terrible ordeal: ‘My misshapen limbs shuddered in sackcloth…my fleshless bones, hardly holding together, scraped against the bare ground.’ [1]
We feel Jerome’s torment in this painting as he kneels in a hostile landscape, surrounded by rocky outcrops. His body is emaciated from lack of food, and veins stand out on his arms and feet.
Tura includes familiar emblems to help church visitors recognise the saint, such as his red cardinal’s hat and the faithful lion. Other features, such as the owl, are less easily understood.
Perhaps the nocturnal owl’s appearance in this daytime scene is there to remind us of Jerome’s claim to have had episodes of mental and physical disturbances that lasted through both day and night.
The small figures behind, possibly the painting’s patron and behind him, Saint Francis, emphasise the enormity of this wilderness.
The harsh landscape and the gnarled tree trunk behind Jerome rhyme with the angles and curves of his robe, and along with his rock-like pose and his resolute gaze, they help to convey both his courage and religious conviction.
Find out more at our 10 minute talks – every Monday in May at 4pm.
1. J. Voragine, 'The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, Volume II', translated by William Granger Ryan, Princeton 1993, pp.213.
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See also
- Get a quick insight into the painting – Mondays at 4pm
- Free art: download the Painting of the Month
Related events
- Exhibition: 23 May – 24 November 2013
