Saint Jerome kneeling on a rock in front of a cross and an open book facing left
ca. 1600–40
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet (Trimmed): 8 1/2 × 5 1/2 in. (21.6 × 14 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
Accession Number
59.570.603
Tags
Art Historical Context
In this evocative etching, Guido Reni captures Saint Jerome in a moment of profound devotion. Dated around 1600–40, the Bolognese master portrays the fourth-century scholar and Doctor of the Church kneeling penitently on a jagged rock before a towering cross, an open book—likely symbolizing his famed Vulgate Bible translation—at his side. Facing left, Jerome embodies humility and contemplation, recurring motif in Christian iconography that highlights his life of asceticism in the Syrian desert. Reni, a leading figure in the Baroque era's Bolognese school, masterfully employs etching—a printma...
About the Artist
Guido Reni · 1575–1642
Guido Reni (1575–1642) was one of the most celebrated Italian painters of the Baroque era and the dominant figure of the Bolognese School. Born into a family of musicians in Bologna, he trained first with Denys Calvaert before joining the influential Accademia degli Incamminati led by Ludovico Carracci. Reni achieved international fame through his idealizing style that combined Baroque dynamism wi...