Image Upright: | 1 |
Penitent Saint Jerome with a Young Monk | |
Artist: | Filippo Lippi |
Year: | c. 1439 |
Medium: | Tempera on panel |
Height Metric: | 53 |
Width Metric: | 37 |
Metric Unit: | cm |
Imperial Unit: | in |
City: | Altenburg |
Museum: | Lindenau-Museum |
The Penitent Saint Jerome with a Young Monk is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Filippo Lippi, dating to c. 1439. It is housed in the Lindenau-Museum of Altenburg, Germany. The work could be identified with the Saint Jerome Penitent of which Lippi asked payment in a letter issued to Piero de' Medici in 1439.
The painting is one of the first known example on the subject of Saint Jerome doing penance. It is a small panel, divided into two different scenes: in the upper part is Saint Jerome with the wooden cross, the stone to strike his breast and the lectern lying on the rock. In the lower part, with a chronological step, is the episode of the saint with the lion having a thorn in the paw. The unfriendly landscape is a metaphor of the hermit style of life.