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Penitent Saint Jerome

Maker

(artist)
1598-1680

Title

Date of Production

(circa) 1672 - 1673

Medium

graphite, brown wash on laid paper (verified under microscope)

Dimensions

Height: 15.7 cm
Width: 22.5 cm

Accession Number

D.1969.WF.4752

Mode of Acquisition

Sotheby's, purchase, 1969

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Notes

Gian Lorenzo Bernini shows Saint Jerome in a pose of extreme remorse, collapsed over the cross and about to beat his chest with a rock. Bernini depicts the saint in dynamic swathes of drapery and denies the saint's face to the viewer. The exact purpose of this work is unknown; he donated similar drawings to fellow artists and friends, but the modest dimensions of the sheet could indicate that it was for personal use. Spiritual subjects such as this may have been used as devotional imagery during prayer or as an act of redemption by Bernini himself, who immersed himself in religion later in life. Bernini represented the saint in a few other works, including a drawing (Louvre Museum, Paris, inv. 9575) where the saint kneels in front of the cross, facing the viewer, which he offered to Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683); and a large marble sculpture in the Chigi Chapel of the Siena Cathedral, where the saint is standing and holding the cross in his arms.

Provenance

possibly Pierre Crozat, Paris (1661-1740); his sale, 1741, no. 298; Marquis Charles-Philippe de Chennevières, Paris and Bellesme (1820-1899); purchased from him by Dr de Cröes; bequeathed by him to Martin Saint-Cire; by descent to Bernard Chesnais; his sale, Sotheby's (London), 7 July 1966, lot 11; purchased there by Sutch & Martin (London) on behalf of the Courtauld Gallery via the Witt Fund

Exhibition History

Bernini Inventor of Baroque Rome (working title), Palazzo Barberini, Rome, 2015

Bernini. Inventor of Baroque Rome, Museum der Bildenden Kunste, Leipzig, 08/11/2014-01/02/2015

Effigies and Ecstasies - Roman Baroque Sculpture and Design in
the Age of Bernini, National Gallery of Scotland & Edinburgh, 25/06/1998-20/09/1998 ...More

Sculptors' Drawings Over Six Centuries 1400-1950, Houston & USA, 31/07/1981-20/09/1981

Sculptors' Drawings Over Six Centuries 1400-1950, New York & USA, 13/03/1981-20/06/1981

Drawings by Guercino and other Baroque Masters, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/02/1977-01/03/1977

Italian Drawings of the 17th and 18th Centuries from the Witt
Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/03/1971-01/04/1971 ...Less

Literature

Schutze, S., ‘I Disegni del Cavaliere: l’Arte del Dono e i suoi Riturali’, in 'Bernini Disegnatore: Nuove Prospettive di Ricerca', Rome 2017
p. 167
fig. 7 on p. 171

Jeanette Stoschek and Sebastian Schutze, eds., Bernini. Erfinder des barocken Rom, exh. cat., Leipzig, Museum der bildenden Kunste, 2014
pp. 245-46
cat. no. 121, p253

Prat, Louis-Antoine and Rosenberg, Pierre, La collection Chennevières: Quatre siècles de dessins français, Paris: Musée du Louvre, 2007
cat. no. T18
pp. 560-61
under list of works not in Chennevieres's 'L'artiste' ...More

Effigies and Ecstasies - Roman Baroque Sculpture and Design in the Age of Bernini, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1998, 1998
no. 170
ill. on p. 191

Blunt, Anthony, 'Gianlorenzo Bernini: illusionism and mysticism' in 'Art History', March 1978 - 67-89; 1, 1
p. 79

Sutherland Harris, Ann, Selected Drawings of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, New York, 1977
vol. I, p. xxiv, no. 96

Blunt, Anthony, 'A Drawing of the Penitent St Jerome by Bernini' in 'Master Drawings', Spring 1972 - 20-22 and 64; 10, 1
pp. 20-22
ill. on p. 64, pl. 16
see attached PDF

Macandrew, Hugh, 'Baccio's early drawings: a group from the artist's first decade in Rome' in 'Master Drawings', Summer 1972 - 111-125 and 171-181; 10, 2
p. 117
ill. on p. 117, fig. 2 ...Less

Inscriptions

Collector's mark: Recto: lower left corner, stamped in black: Charles Philippe de Chennevieres Pointel (L.2072/3).

Inscription: none.

Watermark: none.

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