A favourite subject for Giovanni Mansueti, to which he returned on more than one occasion, was Saint Jerome (c. 347–420). One of the four Great Doctors of the Latin Church, Saint Jerome was a prolific writer whose reputation rests mainly on the Vulgate, his translation of the Old Testament into Latin, for which he used the Hebrew Tanakh rather than the Greek Septuagint. Given his academic interests, he became the patron saint of translators, librarians and encyclopedists.

Saint Jerome is often depicted wearing the red hat and robes of a cardinal. Even when he is depicted as a cave dwelling, semi-clad hermit, his learning and piety are suggested by the inclusion of items such as a cross, skull, Bible and an owl signifying wisdom. Whilst it is true that Saint Jerome did become a hermit for a period, the iconographical convention which represents him removing a thorn from a lion’s paw was not a real event but an enchanting Medieval invention to the narrative of Saint Jerome.

Like other Venetians, Mansueti was a great lover of nature and so he represented Saint Jerome in communion with vast array of animals in a bountiful landscape. The hermit saint, holding a stone for beating his breast, kneels in front the Crucifixion set in a landscape filled with animals, shepherds, washerwomen, even men in Oriental attire that the artist would have had the opportunity to observe at first hand on the streets of cosmopolitan Venice. His delight in juxtaposing seemingly unrelated details without concern for scale or composition suggests an almost Gothic sense of horror vacui (fear of empty space). In keeping with legend, a large lion is placed in front of the saint, with a white dog appearing on the left in good company with a small bear and a weasel, balanced on the right by a pastoral scene with sheep, a shepherd and cows. The signature on the panel reads: ‘Joannes de Mansuetis faciebat’ [Giovanni Mansueti made this].

Two signed paintings of Saint Jerome by Mansueti are known to us: this Saint Jerome praying dated about 1515–1520 and an earlier version, Saint Jerome in a landscape dated about 1490.[1] The Bergamo panel is modest in size, which suggests that the commission was not for use in a church but more likely for private devotion in the patron’s home.

Sanda Miller

 [1] Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, England.