Saint Jerome, 2nd plate
1826 to 1850
Medium
etching
Dimensions
plate: 37.3 × 27.1 cm (14 11/16 × 10 11/16 in.) sheet: 46.4 × 34 cm (18 1/4 × 13 3/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.5435
Art Historical Context
In the tranquil glow of Alphonse Legros' *Saint Jerome, 2 plate*, created between 1826 and 1850, we encounter the revered Church Father, Saint Jerome, a symbol of scholarly devotion and penance. Legros, a French-born artist who later thrived in Britain, captures saint—famed for translating the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate)—in a moment of contemplation, evoking the hermit's life of ascetic study amid a skull, books, and perhaps a lion, traditional emblems of his legend. This work reflects 19th-century fascination with historical and religious figures, blending realism with spiritual depth. As...
About the Artist
Alphonse Legros · 1837–1911
Alphonse Legros (1837–1911) was born in Dijon, France, and trained in Paris at the drawing school of Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran, whose unconventional teaching method — which emphasised memory drawing and acute observation over academic convention — would leave a lasting mark on Legros's practice. At Lecoq's school he formed friendships with Jules Dalou and Auguste Rodin that endured throughout hi...