The Vision of St. Jerome

The Vision of St. Jerome (1660) Giovanni Battista Langetti.

The Vision of St. Jerome (1660) Giovanni Battista Langetti. Langetti is a lesser-known Baroque artist, he worked in Venice and his use of light to help create drama shows Caravaggio’s influence and the intense colors show the influence from Tintoretto.

This painting really stood out for me compared to most all other Baroque paintings of St Jerome because it is an intense action scene. Most paintings of St. Jerome I’ve seen have been with the St. looking inward, contemplating. Here Langetti gives us an Angel blasting his horn so loudly you can almost hear it. St Jerome is terrified by the noise and Langetti has caught him mid-reaction to the vision.

Otherwise, this depiction includes all the standard iconography of St.Jerome, the red Cardinal’s galero (hat), the books and skull and notably a lion. Two things of interest, its often said that St. Jerome was a Cardinal. He wasn’t, in fact the office of Cardinal didnt’ exist until the 6th century. However, Jerome was an advisor/secretary to Pope Damascus I. Also of interest is the lion the background. In the Golden Legend, it is said that St. Jerome tamed a lion by pulling a thorn out of its paw and in return, the lion lived at the monastery and helped with chores and protected the monastic donkey from other predators.