Gazette Drouot logo print

Penitent Saint Jerome Surroundings of Lambert...

Price Tax incl.:
22000 EUR

Penitent Saint Jerome Surroundings of Lambert Van Noort (1520-1571, Antwerp) Antwerp school, mid-16th century Oil on oak panel. Dimensions: panel h. 69 cm, l. 52.5 cm Very large tabernacle frame, Italy, 16th century With frame: h. 113 cm, l. 98 cm The life and writings of Saint Jerome were an inexhaustible source of inspiration for artists of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. In Italy and Northern Europe, two parallel iconographies emerged, depicting the aged, bearded Saint Jerome. The first showed him near his grotto, kneeling before the crucifix with his clothes on the ground. The second showed him in his study, wearing a red cloak and surrounded by books and writings. Our work, dating from the mid-16th century, is distinguished by its humanist depiction of the saint, with the sacred figure replaced by a simple human being with realistic features. The balding, skeletal old man usually depicted here is replaced by a younger, muscular man with a full head of hair and a beard. This iconographic break would continue throughout the 16th century, influenced by the humanist movement developing at the time. During the Renaissance, Saint Jerome came to symbolize the reunion of Christian thought with the philosophy of Greco-Roman antiquity. Our artist depicts Saint Jerome sheltering in a cave during his retreat in the desert. Kneeling before the crucifix, he is in the midst of an act of adoration and penance, preparing to strike himself with a stone while looking upwards. He is dressed in a white blouse (a symbol of purity) and wrapped in an ample pink cardinal's coat. His clothes reveal his left torso, arm and knee. The lion, the saint's companion, lies next to him, looking up at the viewer with its large hazel eyes and surprisingly human face. The crucifix is placed behind a stone slab, where an inscription in Gothic letters confirms the saint's identity. The cardinal's hat is thrown to the ground. A red-covered gospel is placed on the stone. The saint's face displays fine, regular features, white hair brushed back to clear the forehead, long moustache and beard. The meditative, serene gaze of his eyes raised to heaven contrasts with the tension of his body, his half-open mouth frozen, his hand gripping the stone tightly, rendering the muscles, tendons and veins swollen, translating the saint's bodily resistance in his act of flagellation. An approach that illustrates that behind the Saint of Christian writings lies an ordinary man. The body of a mature man, with bulging muscles, is surprisingly aristocratic in its whiteness and the transparency of its skin, revealing bluish veins. The drapery work is particularly successful, showing a strong Gothic influence with broken, angular folds. Strong lighting highlights the transitions between light and shadow. Graduated colors ranging from purple to white, through all shades of pink, distinguish hollows and crests. The edges of her tunic are adorned with a sgrafitto pattern. The grotto opens onto landscapes on either side, deliberately reproduced at different heights: on the left, a hilly landscape with two castles and a hermit chapel at the foot of a mountain, with a winding path in front. On the right, by contrast, a lower-lying area with a fenced-in building. These landscapes of the Flemish countryside help position the saint in the space-time contemporary with the execution of the work. Although the landscape is not the main subject of our painting, it is surprisingly precise and realistic, and takes on a certain autonomy in the composition thanks to the veduta process, an opening onto the outside environment. The figure of the saint stands out against the brown background of the grotto, the arid earth dotted with small groups of finely painted vegetation, with meticulously drawn leaves and flowers. These vegetal strands are reminiscent of the margins of a book of hours. An undeniable Gothic influence. The cool palette is dominated by blue-green gradations from the landscape to the icy pink of the tunic. Alternating color planes help build depth: brown in the foreground, green in the background, blue in the distance. The attention to detail, the modelling of the figure and the broad, sculptural drapery create a work of great sensitivity and aesthetic quality. As with many works from this period, the identity of our artist remains unknown. It is clear, however, that his source of inspiration was his own.

Galerie Nicolas Lenté
2, rue des Saints-Pères
75007 Paris