Art Institute of Chicago

Landscape with the Penitent Saint Jerome

Belgian; Antwerp

Date

1530–40

Medium

Oil on panel

Culture

Belgium

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

In the midst of this expansive landscape, a tiny figure of the hermit Saint Jerome beats his breast with a rock in penance for his earlier worldly pursuits as he gazes at a sculpture of Jesus on the cross. In spite of this fervent activity in the foreground, the true subject of this painting is the vast landscape behind the saint. The artist rendered the mountains, valleys, rivers, and villages in successive bands of brown, green, and blue, the typical structure of the independent landscape that first emerged as a genre in this period. The roads that wind through the scene—metaphors for the journey of life—were a popular motif in Flemish painting and likely helped this work appeal to the growing number of art collectors in the booming city of Antwerp, a center of international trade.

The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.