Bernardino Luini “Saint Jerome the Penitent” Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan in Italy

Bernardino Luini (1475-1480 — June 1532) “Saint Jerome the Penitent”

Painting - Tempera on Canvas (91.4 x 100.6 cm) — 1520-1525

Saint Jerome, born in 343 in Veneto, was baptized at the age of 19 and ordained a priest at the age of 29.

Bernardino Luini, Saint Jerome the Penitent, Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan in Italy

Saint Jerome Penitent Like Saint Anthony, he was struggling against temptation and decided to do penance in the desert after hearing the trumpets of the last judgment sound.

Therefore, he is usually represented as a penitent hermit kneeling or prostrating, beating his chest with a stone.

Luini's painting shows Saint Jerome at the threshold of a cave with one knee on the ground and his supplicating gaze fixed on the crucifix.

He does penance by beating his chest with a stone while putting his hand on a toothless skull beside him.

The suffering and solitude of Saint Jerome contrast with the serenity of the blue sky, where the body of the Crucified One stands out above a magnificent landscape where we see figures walking with their dog on the edge of a lake where a pair of swans are swimming.

At the same time, a lion turns its head towards him.

Luini represented the lion that Saint Jerome would have met in the desert; the lion would have come to him limping because of a thorn planted in his paw pad, and he would have immediately removed it from him.

The grateful lion never left Saint Jerome, so he is regularly represented near the saint.

Bernardino Luini painted Saint Jerome with a red coat on his thigh, alluding to the cardinal's coat.

But Saint Jerome was never one of the Church's dignitaries, although he was secretary to Pope Damasus I for three years.

Finally, most of the hermits represented in the desert are shaggy; Saint Jerome by Bernardo Luini is no exception, with his long and dense white beard.

Saint Jerome Penitent