Saint Jerome

Benvenuto di Giovanni, a veteran Sienese painter active from the 1460s into the early sixteenth century, painted this Saint Jerome around 1485. The scholarly saint, depicted in his study or in penitence, was a subject that allowed painters to combine devotional imagery with detailed still-life elements. Benvenuto's long career encompassed the final flourishing of the Sienese school. The oil medium allowed for rich tonal transitions and glazed layers of color that created luminous depth impossible with the older tempera technique.

Tempera on panel with the refined linear quality and decorative detail characteristic of Sienese painting. Jerome's scholarly attributes are rendered with the careful craftsmanship typical of Benvenuto's mature work.