Penitent Saint Jerome

This wonderful canvas depicts Saint Jerome, born as Sofronio Eusebio Girolamo (Stridone 347 – Bethlehem 420), Father and Doctor of the Church, biblical scholar, theologian, translator, and many other things. The author of this painting, in perfect condition, is Luca Cambiaso (Moneglia 1527 – El Escorial 1585), a tireless painter whose works were present in the main churches and palaces of Genoa and beyond; in 1583 he was called by Philip II to fresco the monastery of El Escorial in Madrid, where he died in 1585. The elderly man (with a sculpted body) depicted in the canvas is sitting inside a cave, totally absorbed, naked, stripped of the cardinal's robes hanging on a trunk behind him, focused on adoring the crucifix he is holding with his right hand, while with his left he beats his chest as a penitential gesture. Around the large figure, of almost natural size, are visible his iconographic attributes, the skull, the books, and the sullen lion; to give depth to the scene is the landscape view present in the upper right, typical of Cambiaso's production of the fifties / sixties. A second version of our painting is known to be kept at the Pinacoteca dei Cappuccini of Voltaggio (AL) "of a quality however high despite some episode may betray collaboration" Fulvio Cervini in La Pinacoteca dei Cappuccini a Voltaggio, F. Cervini/C. Spantigati, Cassa di Risparmio di Alessandria, 2001, card n. 10, p. 71. Cambiaso has produced works of great excellence and I do not think I am being presumptuous in ranking this canvas of ours among them. Dimensions: canvas 142.5 x 106 cm, frame 167 x 117.5 cm