Page 78 - The mystery of faith

JERÓNIMO FRANCISCO GARCÍA

AND MIGUEL JERÓNIMO GARCÍA,

CALLED THE ‘HERMANOS’ GARCÍA

(Granada c. 1580 – 1634?)

5. The Penitent Saint Jerome (1628)

Terracotta, polychromed
59 x 37 x 15 cm (approx. 23 ¼ x 14 ½ x 6 in.)
Dated on the verso, incised into the clay: a 19 de/ maio de/ 1628

PROVENANCE: Daniel Katz, London

Seated upon a rocky outcrop, his pet lion sleeping in a nook below, Saint Jerome is shown nude,
half-draped in a red mantle, his cardinal’s hat laid beside him. His hands are clasped in prayer
and his gaze is directed slightly upwards and beyond, in contemplation of a makeshift crucifix.
Here, the brothers have chosen to portray the saint in his role as an anchorite, a particularly
ascetic type of hermit, placing the modelled figure of the saint and his rocky seat against a flat pictorial
background painted to suggest a cave, or a hollow in a wooded rocky outcrop. The crucifix in the
background is rendered to simultaneously appear firmly planted in the rocks and floating against the
cloudy skies of background. Also visible in the landscape is the suggestion of distant seas or a lake, and
verdant mountains, perhaps to illustrate an imaginary idyll far from the privations of Jerome’s cave.
Here again, we see the brothers apply their proven skill in miniaturist landscape painting to add depth
and freshness to their sculpted composition.

Born in Dalmatia around the middle of the fourth century, Jerome studied in Rome, where he learned
Latin. He is chiefly venerated as the translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin, the so-
called Vulgate Bible. A tireless scholar, he promoted an ascetic lifestyle and often lived for long periods
as an anchorite. He died in Bethlehem in AD 420. The Church recognized him as one of the Latin
Doctors of the Church, along with Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Ambrose and Saint Gregory. The
earliest representations of the saint date from the Middle Ages and his iconography was developed
chiefly around his reputation as a dedicated and reclusive scholar of holy writ, so he was generally
represented in an interior, reading or writing, and dressed in heavy, often luxurious robes. Conversely,
in representations of his eremite life, which became popular in the fifteenth century, Jerome appears
covered only by a red mantle. The attendant lion, which figures equally in both interior/scholar and
exterior/anchorite compositions, and is often shown sleeping at his feet, like a large house cat, refers to
the episode recorded in the Golden Legend, in which Jerome’s compassion for the injured beast earned
him its tame devotion. Here, the head and a single claw of the sleeping lion are just visible, nestled in
a hollow at the lower right and almost hidden by a fold of the red mantle. The saint, rocks, mantle, hat
and lion were modelled in a single mass, and set against a painted background that serves to give
context to the scene, as well as to highlight the sculpted forms.

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