Penitent Saint Jerome with a Young Monk explained

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.