Circle of IL GUERCINO (Cento, Italy, 1591-Bologna, 1666); second half of the 18th century."

Circle of IL GUERCINO (Cento, Italy, 1591-Bologna, 1666); second half of the 18th century.
"Penitent Saint Jerome.
Oil on canvas. The original canvas is preserved.
It has repainting and restorations.
It has a 20th century frame.
Measurements: 114 x 91 cm; 119 x 96 cm (frame).
In this canvas the theme of penitent Saint Jerome is approached through a classical composition, in which the author arranges the saint in a sober interior, in which any anecdotal detail that could cloud the message of transmission of the Christian faith and devotion is eliminated. One of the four great Doctors of the Latin Church, Saint Jerome was born near Aquileia (Italy) in 347. Trained in Rome, he was an accomplished rhetorician and polyglot. Baptised at the age of nineteen, between 375 and 378 he withdrew to the Syrian desert to lead an anchorite's life. He returned to Rome in 382 and became a collaborator of Pope Damasus. One of the most frequent representations of this saint is his penance in the desert. His attributes are the stone he uses to beat his chest and the skull on which he meditates. Also the cardinal's cape (or a red mantle), although he was never a cardinal, and the tamed lion. The latter comes from a story in the "Golden Legend", where it is narrated that one day, when he was explaining the Bible to the monks in his convent, he saw a lion limping towards him. He removed the thorn from its paw, and from then on kept it in his service, instructing it to look after his donkey while it grazed. Some merchants stole the donkey, and the lion recovered it, returning it to the saint without hurting the animal.
Given its technical characteristics, it is possible to relate this piece to the artistic circle of Guercino, who was one of the most acclaimed Italian artists of the first half of the 17th century. He was born in Cento, in the province of Ferrara. The principal influences that shaped his style were the Bolognese Ludovico Carracci, his cousin Hannibal Carracci and the Ferrara-born Ippolito Scarsella. Apart from a two-year stay in Rome during the papacy of the Bolognese Gregorio XV Ludovisi, he was active in his native town until 1642 when he moved to neighbouring Bologna. He was about twenty-five years old when he came to the attention of his first important clients, among them Cardinal Alessandro Ludovisi, Archbishop of Bologna; Cardinal Jacopo Serra, papal legate in Ferrara; Grand Duke Cosimo II of Tuscany and Duke Ferdinand Gonzaga of Mantua. By the mid-1620s he had turned down invitations to work outside Italy, from Charles I of England among others. He seems to have been reluctant to enter into direct competition with his Bolognese rivals, especially Guido Reni, who from around 1610 was the most celebrated painter in Italy. Most of his abundant output consists of altarpieces and easel paintings, but in the first half of his career he also painted frescoes in Cento, Bologna, Rome (the Aurora on the ceiling of the Casino Ludovisi) and the cathedral of Piacenza (1626-1627). His early "Tenebrist" style is characterised by dramatic lighting, saturated colours and agitated compositions. His stay in Rome led him to gradually modify his style towards a much more idealised and classical language, with calmer and more structured compositions, more elegant contours, a generally lighter palette and richer pastel tones.