On view
Saint Jerome in His Study,
1528
A world-weary Saint Jerome sits at a desk, one hand on his forehead, the other pointing to a skull. The tightly enclosed space surrounding him teems with objects. The skull, snuffed-out candle, and framed motto on the wall reading HOMO BVLLA (“man is a bubble”) serve as memento mori, reminders of death and the brevity of earthly life. The saint’s book and writing implements refer to his role as a biblical scholar and translator of the commonly used Latin Vulgate Bible. Jerome’s role as a translator was particularly important when Joos painted this panel, shortly after the Protestant theologian Martin Luther published a German translation of the New Testament in 1522.
More Context
Handbook Entry
This <em>Saint Jerome</em> by the Antwerp artist Joos van Cleve shows the direct influence of a painting by Albrecht Dürer, now in the Prado, Madrid, executed during the German master’s trip to the Netherlands in 1521. Van Cleve’s homage to Dürer, dated the year of his death, is teeming with hidden symbolism, objects showing the double nature of a world in which God’s creation has Christian meanings below surface appearances. It is a <em>memento mori</em>, a reminder of imminent death, as the saint points to a human skull to recall the human condition of mortality. The motto on the wall, <em>Homo Bulla </em>— man is a bubble — also signifies the brevity of earthly life, as does the snuffed-out candle. Saint Jerome was devoted to the Virgin Mary, and the daylight passing through the drinking glass, carafe, and window alludes to the Virgin birth, in which Jesus was born even as Mary’s virginity remained intact. Christian symbols include the string of beads, or rosary; the aspergillum for holy water; and the fruit that reminds us of the fall of man and God’s promise of redemption. The saint’s book, pen, inkwell, glasses, and scroll refer to his roles as translator of the Vulgate Bible and author of commentaries, activities that account for his popularity in an age of Christian humanism and debate over the new Lutheran doctrine.
More About This Object
Information
1528
J. P. Heseltine (until 1912; sale, Christie’s London, July 12, 1912, lot 56, to Gooden and Fox); Frederick Anthony White, London (until 1925; sale, December 18, 1925, lot 82 (as by J. C. van Oostsanen), bought in; sale, Christie’s London, April 20, 1934, lot 125 (as by J. C. van Oostsanen), to Dr. Fisher or Fischer); Brian Sewell, London (around 1960s); Joseph McCrindle, London and Princeton (around 1960s–1982; gift to Princeton University Art Museum).
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1982", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 42, no. 1 (1983): p. 50-70., p. 61 (illus.)
- Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones, Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), p. 50 (illus.)
- John Oliver Hand, "Saint Jerome in His Study by Joos van Cleve," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 49, no. 2 (1990): p. 2-10., pp. 2–3, figs. 1–3; p. 7, fig. 7
- Norman Muller, "addendum: conservator's note" of "Saint Jerome in His Study by Joos van Cleve," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 49, no. 2 (1990): p. 11-15., pp. 11–13, figs. 1–5
- Walter Liedtke, et. al., Flemish paintings in America: a survey of early Netherlandish and Flemish paintings in the public collections of North America, (Antwerp: Fonds Mercator, 1992)., fig. 284, 342 (illus.)
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John Oliver Hand, "Saint Jerome in his study by Joos van Cleve", in Studies in the northern Renaissance: a tribute to Robert A. Koch, (Princeton, NJ: Dept. of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University, 1994).
, p. 53-61; fig. 1 - John Oliver Hand, Joos van Cleve: the complete paintings, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004)., fig. 94; p. 92 (illus.)
- Daniel Arasse, Le détail: pour une histoire rapprochée de la peinture, (Paris: Flammarion, 2008)., p. 124; fig. 131
- Peter van der Coelen, et. al., Images of Erasmus, (Rotterdam: Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, 2008)., p. 110; cat. no. 23 (illus.)
- Koenraad Jonckheere, Antwerp art after Iconoclasm: experiments in decorum: (1566-1585), (Brussels: Mercatorfonds; New Haven, CT: Yale University Press (distributor), 2012).
- Francis Russell, "Joseph F McCrindle: an impression", The McCrindle gift: a distinguished collection of drawings and watercolors, (Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 2012)., p. 18, fig. 7; p. 19
- Margaret Morgan Grasselli and Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., The McCrindle gift: a distinguished collection of drawings and watercolors, (Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 2012)., p. 18 (color illus.); p. 18-20
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 202
- Miriam Milman, "Petrus Christus un precurseur Revelations de L'orfevre dans son atelier", in L'image en questions: pour Jean Wirth, (Geneva: Librairie Droz, DL, 2013).
