
Francesco GranacciItalien, 1469–1543Må man se det?
London, Storbritannien
Ejeren er kendt; om værket er udstillet i dag, vides ikke.
Francesco Granacci (1469-1543) trained in Florence, with Michelangelo, in the workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio (1448/9-1494), and the two then studied sculpture in the Medici garden at S Marco under the supervision of Bertoldo di Giovanni (ca.1420-1491). Granacci was an important member of the Ghirlandaio’s workshop during the 1490s before going to Rome in order to assist Michelangelo in painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. According to Vasari, Granacci was often employed by the Medici to design scenery and festive decorations.
This painting of circular format could have been a tondo or a desco da parto (birth tray) due to its relatively small size. The subject presents St Jerome in the desert in a traditional way, the saint kneeling before a crucifix, a rock in his hand as a sign of penitence. This work may have been made for private devotion. On account of their edifying penitential subject-matter, images of St. Jerome in the Desert were especially popular as secular decorations in Renaissance Florence.
Victoria and Albert Museum