Art Institute of Chicago

Saint Augustine's Vision of Saints Jerome and John the Baptist

Matteo di Giovanni (Italian, c. 1430–1495)LinkedCulture matchlcp-6d74eac710f2

Date: 1476
Medium: Tempera on panel
Culture: Italy
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Institution: Art Institute of Chicago
Object ID: 16183

From the Art Institute of Chicago record

This painting and its companion, The Dream of Saint Jerome , depict scenes from the life of Saint Jerome, the scholar credited with translating the Bible from Hebrew into Latin, a more widely known language at the time, so that more people would be able to read it. The first scene shows Jerome’s dream of being punished by a heavenly council for preferring ancient Greek and Roman texts to the Christian Bible. In the second painting, Saint Augustine is composing Jerome’s eulogy when he is interrupted by a vision of the saint accompanied by John the Baptist, who praises Jerome as his equal.

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Provenance & credit

As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.

Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
Provenance: Placidi altarpiece, Chapel of Saint Jerome, Church of San Domenico, Siena, from 1476 until the dismemberment of the altarpiece sometime between 1784 and 1803 [Trimpi 1983 identified this painting, The Dream of Saint Jerome (1933.1018), and The Crucifixion, now in a private collection, as from the predella of the altarpiece on the basis of Mons. Francesco Bossio, Visita apostolica (1575), Siena, Archivio Arcivescovile, MS. 21, fol. 678r–678v and an August 23, 1803 inventory of pictures from San Domenico in the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Archivio di Stato Biccherna 1089, fol. 459r–460v]. Possibly removed to Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, by 1803 [according to Trimpi 1983, who cites the inventory referenced above]. Adelbert Wellington, third Earl Brownlow (d. 1921), Ashridge Park, Berkhamsted, by 1904 [according to the London 1904 exhibition catalogue], sold as a pair with 1933.1018, Christie’s London, May 4, 1923, no. 26 (ill.), as Benvenuto di Giovanni, to Colnaghi for £850 [according to an annotated copy of the sale catalogue at Christie’s, London]; sold by Colnaghi to Martin A. Ryerson (d. 1932), Chicago, 1925 [according to Colnaghi’s invoice, Ryerson papers, Art Institute archives]; on loan to the Art Institute from 1925; bequeathed to the Art Institute, 1933.