The Vision of Saint Jerome

The Vision of Saint Jerome by the Italian Baroque artist Domenichino, a leading figure of classical Baroque was a masterpiece painting.This painting that was made before 1603 which is currently housed in The National Gallery in London. This oil on canvas painting shows a moment in Saint Jerome's life when he lived an ascetic life in the wilderness. This is interestingly shown in the background, where Saint Jerome seems to be residing in the caves, with the depiction of a rocky landscape with no one alongside him but just his books, which proves that he is an educated scholar, and a skull wearing a cardinal's hat, which shows that he was deeply spiritual and constantly reflecting on his own mortality in the wilderness. In this painting, an interesting figure of a lion with human eyes is also painted which seems to be the only one in the company of Saint Jerome. The use of human eyes can be a sort of expression of the idea that the lion was a tame lion who chose to join the saint. The saint then seems to have had a divine intervention by an angel that has descended from above, flying over him, whom he dearly looks upon, seeking some kind of vision with what he was studying or meditating on. It is important to note that Saint Jerome was an important person. He was a scholar and a hermit who lived in the fourth century. He lived a life in the desert of Chalcis, Syria before moving to Rome. There he worked as secretary to the Pope. The Saint is often painted by Domenichino in red attire which can be a sign that relates him to the Pope.Saint Jerome was well known as he produced the standard Latin translation of the Bible known as the Vulgate.So, this can be seen as a moment of divine inspiration that can lead the saint to produce such works. This is the earliest surviving documented picture by Domenichino. He painted several versions of the subject, but this one is recorded in the earliest collection of Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini in 1603.