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This panel appears to be the only extant painting signed by the artist known as Giovanni d'Alemagna (meaning Giovanni from Germany) alone and therefore is critical for an assessment of his oeuvre. The shape of the panel suggests that it is from a larger altarpiece rather than being a stand-alone devotional painting. The artist was the brother-in-law and partner of the painter Antonio Vivarini in Venice. In 1447 they moved to Padua. They jointly signed several paintings that are extant today, for example a magnificent triptych that includes a similar figure of St. Jerome, painted in 1446 for the Scuola Grande della Carita and now in the Accademia, Venice. It has been difficult to ascertain Giovanni's personal style and many works attributed to him are quite different in style from the present work. The painting is signed and dated on front of the marble step in the foreground: ICCCC | 44o | ADI OTTO ... LUIO | IOHANES | PINXIT...; [Translation] "1444 on the eighth of July, Johannes painted [this]."