''Saint Jerome in the Desert'', or ''Saint Jerome Reading in the Desert'', is an oil painting on panel of 1480 by the Italian Renaissance master

Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 29 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father, ...

, now in the

Uffizi Gallery The Uffizi Gallery ( ; , ) is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

as part of the Contini Bonacossi collection, giving it its alternative title of the ''Contini Bonacossi Saint Jerome''. Its original location is unknown, though Gamba's theory is that it was an altarpiece for

Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Venice Santa Maria dei Miracoli is a church in the sestiere of Cannaregio, in Venice, Italy. Architecture and restoration Also known as the "marble church", it is one of the best examples of the early Venetian Renaissance including colored marble, a fal ...

, where

Jacopo Sansovino Jacopo d'Antonio Sansovino (2 July 1486 – 27 November 1570) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect, best known for his works around the Piazza San Marco in Venice. These are crucial works in the history of Venetian Renaissance arc ...

mentioned seeing a Saint Jerome by Bellini completed in 1489. It uses the same composition as another '' Saint Jerome in the Desert'', controversially dated to around 1505. In both works

Saint Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian priest, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known for his translation of the Bible ...

is shown reading in the desert, referring to both his life as a hermit and his production of the

Vulgate Bible The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Roman Church. Later, of his own initia ...

. The work in Florence shows a crucifix on a long shaft, which the saint used as an aid to prayer. His usual lion is shown, as are some birds, a lizard, a squirrel on a branch and one deer chasing another, all of which probably had symbolic meanings. At the top is a rural background with a fortress and a walled city teeming with guard towers and bell towers, along with other buildings based on famous buildings in

Romagna Romagna () is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy. Etymology The name ''Romagna'' originates from the Latin name ''Romania'', which originally ...

and the Venetian ''contado'' which Bellini had seen on his journey to Romagna and the Marche. The central building resembles the

Basilica of San Vitale The Basilica of San Vitale is a late antique church in Ravenna, Italy. The sixth-century church is an important surviving example of early Byzantine art and architecture, and its mosaics in particular are some of the most-studied works in Byzan ...

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

, while others are based on the Ponte di Tiberio in

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

, the bell-tower of

Sant'Anastasia Sant'Anastasia (; ) is a (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about northeast of Naples. Sant'Anastasia borders the following municipalities: Casalnuovo di Napoli, Ercolano, Pollena Trocchia, ...

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

, and the

Mausoleum of Theoderic The Mausoleum of Theodoric () is an ancient monument just outside Ravenna, Italy. It was built in AD 520 by Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, as his future tomb. Description The mausoleum's current structure consists of two decagona ...

. This marked the beginning of a new conception of landscape painting, connected to the

predella In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...

of the Pesaro Altarpiece or the New York '' Saint Francis in Ecstasy'', whose figures and background are lighter and whose atmosphere is freer than in earlier works.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Jerome in the Desert (Bellini, Florence) Paintings by Giovanni Bellini Paintings in the Uffizi 1480 paintings Books in art Lions in art Bellini