The ''Funeral of Saint Jerome'' is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter

Filippo Lippi Filippo Lippi ( – 8 October 1469), also known as Lippo Lippi, was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento (15th century) and a Carmelite Priest. Biography Lippi was born in Florence in 1406 to Tommaso, a butcher, and his wife. He was orp ...

of Saint Jerome's funeral. It is housed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo next to the Cathedral of Prato, central Italy.

History

The large altarpiece was commissioned by the provost of

Prato Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 i ...

Geminiano Inghirami Geminiano is a municipality in the state of Piauí in the Northeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Piauí This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Piauí (PI), located in the Northeast Region of Brazil. Piau ...

, a patron of the arts who also called

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Republic of Florence, Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sculpture and use ...

and

Michelozzo Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi (1396 – 7 October 1472) was an Italian architect and sculptor. Considered one of the great pioneers of architecture during the Renaissance, Michelozzo was a favored Medici architect who was extensively empl ...

to work in the cathedral. The panel is dated 1440, but this has been always considered a false due to the large stylistic differences with other Lippi's works of the period. It is generally recognized to be from between 1452, when Lippi arrived in Prato (or a few years before), and Inghirami's death in 1460. It is housed in the cathedral's museum since the 20th century.

Description

The work features numerous characters, painted in different attitudes. In the center, lying on a

catafalque A catafalque is a raised bier, box, or similar platform, often movable, that is used to support the casket, coffin, or body of a dead person during a Christian funeral or memorial service. Following a Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, a catafalque ...

with a precious cloth decorated with pomegranates, is the body of Saint Jerome. He is surrounded by a group of monks, whose faces show their mourning and despair for the saint's death. The pomegranate cloth is also visible in the funerary monument of Geminiano Inghirami, once in the church of San Francesco, attributed to

Pasquino da Montepulciano Pasquino or Pasquin (Latin: ''Pasquillus'') is the name used by Romans since the early modern period to describe a battered Hellenistic-style statue perhaps dating to the third century BC, which was unearthed in the Parione district of Rome ...

(1460). The mourner's faces show that Lippi had studied

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/Proto-Renaissance period. Giot ...

's work in the

Bardi Chapel The (Italian for 'Basilica of the Holy Cross') is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 meters south-east of the Duomo. The ...

, as some gestures are very similar, such as that of the monks kissing the saint's feet or the one raising his hands. Also the saint's position is similar to Giotto's, as well as the presence of ancient numismatic, a widespread theme at the time. In the foreground is Inghirami kneeling, with a crippled youth in front of him who points at Jerome's body (a trick to avoid that the donor's red garments could distract the observer). The crippled figure is inspired by the frescoes by

Masaccio Masaccio (, , ; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, ...

and Masolino da Panicale in the

Brancacci Chapel The Brancacci Chapel (in Italian language, Italian, "Cappella dei Brancacci") is a chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine di Firenze, Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence, central Italy. It is sometimes called the "Sistine Chapel of the ...

, which Lippi knew well as he had a been a monk in the convent housing the chapel in his youth. The upper part of the panel, aside from rocky mountains with three secondary scenes (Adoration of the Child and two episodes of the saint's life), is occupied by angels, perhaps executed by

Fra' Diamante Fra Diamante (c. 1430 – c. 1498) was an Italian Renaissance painter. Biography Born at Prato, he was a Carmelite friar, a member of the Florentine community of that order, and was the friend and assistant of Filippo Lippi. The Carmelit ...

or another collaborator. Among them circles which allude to the Heaven's Circles, the Redeemer (with a book with Alpha and Omega), the Holy Spirit dove and the Jesus opening his arms. At the bottom is the coat of arms of the Inghirami family.

References

{{Filippo Lippi 1450s paintings Paintings by Filippo Lippi Paintings of Jesus Paintings of Jerome Birds in art Paintings in Prato Altarpieces Angels in art