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Source Description
These three panels were once the “predella,” or base, of a large altarpiece. Predellas are often painted to depict scenes from the lives of the figures represented in the larger central section of the altarpiece. This predella includes two scenes from the life of Saint Jerome, one of the four Latin church fathers who was renowned during the Renaissance for both his learning and piety. The panel at the left (37.428a) shows the elderly Jerome, gaunt and haggard after spending years meditating in the wilderness, receiving his last communion. The panel at the right (37.428c) shows his funeral, with the saint’s soul, in the form of an infant, carried to heaven by angels. The panel at the center (37.428b) depicts the Virgin and the apostle John mourning the dead Christ, held upright in his tomb and displaying his wounds to the viewer—an image popularly known as the Man of Sorrows. The main portion of the altarpiece, depicting Saint Jerome in the wilderness, is now at the Museo di San Salvi in Florence. The altarpiece and its predella were painted in the late 1490s by the Florentine artist Bartolomeo di Giovanni for the church of San Vincenzo d’Annalena, Florence.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
30693
label
Group of Three Panels: Last Communion of St. Jerome, The Man of Sorrows, The Death of St. Jerome
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
citationUrl
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
30693
sourceUrl
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
Group of Three Panels: Last Communion of St. Jerome, The Man of Sorrows, The Death of St. Jerome
description
These three panels were once the “predella,” or base, of a large altarpiece. Predellas are often painted to depict scenes from the lives of the figures represented in the larger central section of the altarpiece. This predella includes two scenes from the life of Saint Jerome, one of the four Latin church fathers who was renowned during the Renaissance for both his learning and piety. The panel at the left (37.428a) shows the elderly Jerome, gaunt and haggard after spending years meditating in the wilderness, receiving his last communion. The panel at the right (37.428c) shows his funeral, with the saint’s soul, in the form of an infant, carried to heaven by angels. The panel at the center (37.428b) depicts the Virgin and the apostle John mourning the dead Christ, held upright in his tomb and displaying his wounds to the viewer—an image popularly known as the Man of Sorrows. The main portion of the altarpiece, depicting Saint Jerome in the wilderness, is now at the Museo di San Salvi in Florence. The altarpiece and its predella were painted in the late 1490s by the Florentine artist Bartolomeo di Giovanni for the church of San Vincenzo d’Annalena, Florence.
provenance
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1881 catalogue: nos. 178, 179, 180; 1897 catalogue: nos. 282, 283, 284, as Melozzo da Forlì]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 1500 (Renaissance)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
panel paintings
predellas
imageCount
3
pageCount
3
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
18.6
height
47
depth
1.7
dimensionsRaw
Painted surface H of the Last Communion of St. Jerome: 7 5/16 x W: 18 1/2 x D: 11/16 in. (18.6 x 47 x 1.7 cm); Painted surface H of the Man of Sorrows: 7 1/8 x W: 18 1/8 x D: 11/16 in. (18.1 x 46.1 x 1.7 cm); Painted surface H of the Death of St. Jerome: 7 3/16 x W: 18 9/16 x D: 9/16 in. (18.3 x 47.1 x 1.5 cm)
Source extras
med
oil on wood panel
creator_ids
15483
collection_ids
REN
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
a2d80001de2f75cf
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
ac590de78cd4f3d6
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
e0c34ada2ec3a8d1
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no