Not currently on display at the V&A

St. Jerome

Relief
first half of sixteenth century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This enamelled terracotta panel relief is probably by the workshop of the Della Robbia made in the first half of the sixteenth century in Italy.

St. Jerome is represented in a blue tunic in the foreground of a rocky landscape, kneeling on the left with hands outstretched before a crucifix set in a mound on the right-hand side.

St Jerome was a Roman Catholic priest, who is well known for having translated the Vulgate, an early 5th century version of the bible in Latin
In art he appears often as one of the four Latin doctors of the church (the others being Augustine of Hippo, Ambrose and Pope Gregory I ) and is often represented in the costume of a cardinal.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • St. Jerome (generic title)
  • St. Jerome in Penitence (generic title)
  • St. Jerome Before a Crucifix (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Relief in polychrome, enamelled terracotta
Brief description
Panel-relief in enamelled terracotta, showing St. Jerome kneeling before a crucifix, probably the workshop of Della Robbia, Italy, first half of 16th century.
Physical description
Relief in polychrome enamelled terracotta. St. Jerome is represented in a blue tunic in the foreground of a rocky landscape, kneeling on the left with hands outstretched before a crucifix set in a mound on the right-hand side. In the centre is his porphyry cardinal's hat and behind him to the left is the lion. In the background are (left) a stag before three trees, (upper centre) a man with a dromedary, and (right) a stag before a group of trees. The remainder is coarsely glazed in white, yellow, green, purple, blue, pale blue and brown. The right hand is broken and repaired.
Dimensions
  • Height: 41.3cm
  • Width: 34.3cm
Object history
Purchased in Paris (vendor not recorded, £ 12,-).

Historical significance: There is a somewhat similar reflief in the Casa Buonarroti at Florence.
A second, somewhat larger version appeared in 1918 in the Bardini sale in New York (American Art Association, 23-27 April, 1918, No. 370, as Giovanni della Robbia).
Production
Florentine
Subjects depicted
Summary
This enamelled terracotta panel relief is probably by the workshop of the Della Robbia made in the first half of the sixteenth century in Italy.

St. Jerome is represented in a blue tunic in the foreground of a rocky landscape, kneeling on the left with hands outstretched before a crucifix set in a mound on the right-hand side.

St Jerome was a Roman Catholic priest, who is well known for having translated the Vulgate, an early 5th century version of the bible in Latin
In art he appears often as one of the four Latin doctors of the church (the others being Augustine of Hippo, Ambrose and Pope Gregory I ) and is often represented in the costume of a cardinal.
Bibliographic references
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1858. In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 7.
  • Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 81.
  • Pope-Hennessy, John. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Volume I: Text. Eighth to Fifteenth Century. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, p. 256.
  • Gentilini, Giancarlo (ed.). I Della Robbia e L'Arte Nuova della Scultura Invetriata, exh. cat.). Fiesole, Basilica di Sant' Alessandro, 1998, p. 292 illustr. as Luca della Robbia 'il giovane' (?)
  • The Rival of Nature : Renaissance painting in its context, London : National Gallery, 1975 161
Collection
Accession number
4235-1858

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Record createdJuly 2, 2008
Record URL
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