Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), Según - Saint Jerome in His Study

European School, late 18th century
According to Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528)
Saint Jerome in His Study

Authorship: European School, probably Spanish/Catalan circle
Model: after Albrecht Dürer
Title: Saint Jerome in His Study
Technique: oil on canvas
Chronology: late 18th century
Canvas dimensions: 82 × 65 cm
Overall dimensions with frame: 100 × 82 cm
Approximate weight of the set: 15 kg
Signature: not visible
Reverse: old inventory number “No. 199” and initials “C.O.”
Provenance: private Catalan collection

Description

Important and interesting oil on canvas from the late 18th century, from a private Catalan collection, depicting Saint Jerome in his study following one of Albrecht Dürer’s most celebrated compositions: the extraordinary engraving Saint Jerome in His Study, made in 1514.

Iconographic identification is especially rich.

Saint Jerome is shown as a scholar and Doctor of the Church, focused on reading and writing at his work table. Around him an interior is carefully articulated with numerous symbolic elements: books and papers, the crucifix, the skull, the large red cardinal’s hat, and in the foreground, the inseparable lion, one of the saint’s traditional attributes.

The painting translates Dürer’s complex intellectual and spiritual universe into color, transforming the linear precision of the Renaissance engraving into an image with a warm, quiet, deeply contemplative atmosphere.

A composition born from Dürer

The ultimate reference of the work is the famous 1514 engraving, one of the key images of Northern Renaissance art.

The general structure of the composition remains clearly recognizable: the large side window, the skull on the bench, the books and cushions, the central desk, the crucifix, the saint bent over his work, the red hat suspended in the background, the domestic furniture, and the monumental presence of the lion in the foreground.

The painter, however, does not simply transfer the model mechanically.

The introduction of color profoundly changes its reading. The intense reds of the floor, the garments, and the cardinal hat contrast with the dark greens of the room, the earthy tones of the furniture, and the deep blacks of shadowed areas.

The result is a version of strong personality, where the rigorous Dürerian construction acquires a more intimate and painterly dimension.

Light, silence and knowledge

One of the most suggestive aspects of the work is the treatment of light.

The illumination enters from the side through the windows and builds the interior with large zones of clarity and shade. The architecture is progressively defined by contrast, while Saint Jerome remains focused on his task, isolated from the outside world.

The scene thus conveys a remarkable sense of quiet.

The presence of the skull introduces the traditional memento mori: even knowledge and intellectual activity are subject to the passage of time and mortality.

Facing it, the crucifix introduces the spiritual and salvific dimension.

The work can be read, therefore, not only as a representation of a saint but as a reflection on knowledge, time, death and faith.

Saint Jerome and his attributes

The iconography of Saint Jerome is especially recognizable by several elements present in the composition.

The red hat alludes to his traditional status as cardinal; the books, papers and writing tools evoke his extraordinary intellectual activity and his translation of the Holy Scriptures; the skull symbolises the transience of life; and the lion, placed prominently in the foreground, refers to the well-known legendary episode in which the saint cures a wound in the animal’s paw, after which the beast stays by his side.

The choice of the saint as a learned man, rather than the penitential hermit in the desert, directly connects with the Renaissance humanist tradition and with the image that Dürer turned into one of the great archetypes of the history of European engraving.

Historical context

The enormous diffusion of Dürer’s prints allowed his compositions to be used for centuries as sources by painters of different European schools.

Also in Spain and the Mediterranean area, the use of old engravings as compositional models is widely documented during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The present work should be understood within this tradition: a late pictorial reinterpretation of a Renaissance model of immense prestige, adapted to the sensibilities and language of late 18th-century European painting.

Its Catalan provenance and certain features of the work make a Spanish or Catalan context reasonable, although current documentation is not sufficient to assign it to a specific workshop.

Reverse and provenance

The reverse preserves two particularly interesting elements for future research.

On the upper crossbar appears an old number:

“No. 199”

and on the canvas itself the initials can be seen:

“C.O.”

The collection or inventory to which these marks correspond has not yet been identified.

Its conservation nonetheless provides an interesting avenue for researching the historical provenance of the work, especially considering its origin in a Catalan collection.

Condition

The work presents a general state coherent with its age.
The surface shows craquelure, small irregularities, wear and natural aging of varnishes and paint layer, but these elements do not detract from the overall reading of the composition.
Some areas of superficial darkening typical of a painting of this chronology are observed. A possible professional conservation intervention could help recover nuances currently partly veiled by aging.
Careful examination of all detail photographs is recommended, as they are an integral part of the description.

Canvas dimensions: 82 × 65 cm
Overall dimensions with frame: 100 × 82 cm
Approximate weight: 15 kg

The painting is presented in an important gilded frame with strong decorative presence.

The frame is offered as a gift, therefore, due to its age and weight, there will be no claim on it.

Barcelona Art Gallery undertakes shipments via a professional specialist company, using tailor-made boxes and foam protections. Worldwide shipping is available.

Due to the considerable volume and weight of the set, any potential logistic surcharge associated with large format or certain continental or non-EU destinations will be borne by the buyer.