El GrecoGreek, 1541–1614Saint Jerome as Scholar
May one see it?
Yes, receiving visitors
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Room958New York, United States
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
Saint Jerome is a 1609 painting by El Greco, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The artist frequently returned to this subject and here shows Jerome dressed as a cardinal in a pose reminiscent of his Portrait of Cardinal Tavera and Portrait of Jerónimo de Cevallos, pointing at an open book on a table covered with a green tapestry. The deep folds in the garments point to the influence of Michelangelo and Byzantine icon painting.
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1975.1.146
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Open Access (CC0)
Meanwhile, in the life of El Greco
The whole life1607–1608
The lawsuit with the hospital at Illescas
In 1607–08 El Greco was involved in a protracted legal dispute with the Hospital of Charity at Illescas over payment for his work, which included painting, sculpture and architecture. This and other disputes contributed to the economic difficulties of his last years.
1608
His last major commission: the Hospital of Saint John the Baptist
In 1608 El Greco received his last major commission, for the Hospital of Saint John the Baptist in Toledo.
1611
A visit from Francisco Pacheco
The painter and theorist Francisco Pacheco, who visited El Greco in 1611, condemned his idea of the primacy of colour over form and his broad-brush manner, yet called the master “a writer of painting, sculpture and architecture”.
