Oil Painting, 'St. Jerome and Girolamo Petrobelli ', After Paolo Veronese

Saint Jerome is dressed as a Cardinal and accompanied by his traditional symbol of a lion. He holds a church, which refers to his role as one of the four Fathers of the Church. Below him kneels the donor Girolamo Petrobelli.

Purchased, 1885
Purchased for £3 in 1885 for the Circulation Department suggesting it was acquired as an exemplary student work painted after the original (in Dulwich Picture Gallery since 1811)

Historical significance: This is a copy of a fragment of an altarpiece painted on canvas by Paolo Veronese ca. 1563. Veronese (1528-1588) was an Italian painter and draughtsman, who, along with Titian and Tintoretto, was one of the greatest late Renaissance painters in Venice. He is known as a supreme colourist and for his illusionistic decorations in both fresco and oil. His large paintings of biblical feasts executed for the refectories of monasteries in Venice and Verona are especially celebrated. He also produced many altarpieces, history and mythological paintings and portraits. He headed a family workshop that remained active after his death.
This painting on millboard is a copy after a fragment, now in Dulwich Picture Gallery, of a large altarpiece of c. 1563 which was cut up in 1788. Although the Dulwich fragment was lent to the Royal Academy several times in the nineteenth century and artists were allowed to copy the pictures at Dulwich, this is the only known copy of the fragment. The Dulwich picture originally formed the lower right of the altarpiece while the lower left portion is now in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, a fragment of the centre is in Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas and the upper portion is in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. 187-1885 depicts Saint Jerome dressed as a Cardinal and accompanied by his traditional symbol of a lion. He holds a church, which refers to his role as one of the four Fathers of the Church. In the original painting at Dulwich, a hand holding a balance and part of the drapery of a figure of Saint Michael trampling the Devil are visible at the left edge. These elements were painted out when the altarpiece was cut down and were only rediscovered after cleaning in 1953. The altarpiece was painted for Antonio and Girolamo Petrobelli for their chapel in the church of San Francesco at Lendinara near Rovigo. The donor in the Dulwich fragment is Girolamo Petrobelli (d.1587).

This is a copy of a fragment of a late sixteenth-century altarpiece painted by Paolo Veronese. Altarpieces are image-bearing structures set on the rear part of the altar, and normally declare to which saint or mystery the altar was dedicated. Its form and content customarily evoke the mystery or personage whose cult was celebrated at the altar. Altarpiece forms vary enormously, and may include movable statues, relics and sacrament tabernacles among other elements. The original association of the Christian altar was with the tomb of a saint, and theologically with the tomb of Christ. Altarpieces adorned both high altars and side altars. High altars often carried large altarpieces with elaborate programmes while side altars served a more private piety and their altarpieces were often endowed by private individuals.

Formerly described as Italian School, 'A Donor and a cardinal' by Kauffmann, this work has now been identified as an English 19th-century copy, probably by F. W. Moody,
after a fragment of Paolo Veronese's Petrobelli altarpiece, in Dulwich Picture Gallery (DPG270) since 1811. Moody designed many of the decorative schemes in the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A). He was Instructor in Decorative Art at the South Kensington School, which was the forerunner of the Royal College of Art. Moody and his colleagues advocated the Neo-Renaissance style for the decoration of secular buildings and objects.

Formerly described as Italian School, 'A Donor and a cardinal', this work has now been identified as an English 19th-century copy, probably by F. W. Moody, after a fragment of Paolo Veronese's Petrobelli altarpiece, in Dulwich Picture Gallery (DPG270) since 1811. Moody designed many of the decorative schemes in the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) and he and his colleagues advocated the Neo-Renaissance style for the decoration of secular buildings and objects.
Veronese's altarpiece was painted ca. 1563 for Antonio and Girolamo Petrobelli for their chapel in the church of San Francesco at Lendinara near Rovigo. The donor in the Dulwich fragment is Girolamo Petrobelli (d.1587). Veronese (1528-1588) was an Italian painter and draughtsman, who, along with Titian and Tintoretto, was one of the greatest late Renaissance painters in Venice. He is known as a supreme colourist and for his illusionistic decorations in both fresco and oil. His large paintings of biblical feasts executed for the refectories of monasteries in Venice and Verona are especially celebrated. He also produced many altarpieces, history and mythological paintings and portraits. He headed a family workshop that remained active after his death.
187-1885 is a copy after a fragment, now in Dulwich Picture Gallery, of a large canvas altarpiece which was cut up in 1788. The Dulwich fragment originally formed the lower right of the altarpiece while the lower left portion is now in Edinburgh, a fragment of the centre is in Texas and the upper portion is in Ottawa. 187-1885 depicts Saint Jerome dressed as a Cardinal and accompanied by his traditional symbol of a lion. He holds a church, which refers to his role as one of the four Fathers of the Church. In the original painting at Dulwich, a hand holding a balance and part of the drapery of a figure of Saint Michael trampling the Devil are visible at the left edge. These elements were painted out when the altarpiece was cut down and were only rediscovered after cleaning in 1953.

187-1885