from patinir to ribera
Transcripción
from patinir to ribera
The Golden Cabinet presents FROM PATINIR TO RIBERA Jan van Hemessen, St Jerome as a Monk © Erwin Donvil, KBC St Jerome in Words and Images V I S I T O R ’ S G U I D E FROM PATINIR TO RIBERA St Jerome in Words and Images ROCKOX HOUSE 18 January to 13 April 2014 We are grateful to the following lenders: Cultura Fonds, Dilbeek Erasmus House, Anderlecht Groeninge Museum, Bruges Mayer van den Bergh Museum, Antwerp Musée de Flandre, Cassel Musée des Arts Anciens, Namur Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid Museum de Lakenhal, Leiden Museum M, Leuven North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh Our Lady’s Cathedral, Antwerp Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille Plantin-Moretus Museum/Print Room, Antwerp, Unesco World Heritage Site Private collection, Antwerp Rockox House, Antwerp Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe Stadsontwikkeling, Onroerend Erfgoed en Archeologie, Antwerpen Curators: Xavier Tricot is an art historian, Ensor expert and exhibition curator, as well as a painter, poet and dramatist. He came to early art through James Ensor, of whose oil paintings he composed a catalogue raisonné. Although Ensor was a forerunner of modern art, he drew a great deal of inspiration from the old masters, and successfully united tradition and modernity, both thematically and stylistically. Hildegard Van de Velde studied art history and archaeology at the University of Ghent, and library and documentation studies at the University of Antwerp. She is currently the administrator of the KBC art collection and curator of the Rockox House Museum in Antwerp. INTRODUCTION The Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp and the Rockox House Museum are staging the exhibition The Golden Cabinet. The Royal Museum at the Rockox House until the end of 2016. Throughout that period, the former home of burgomaster and patron of the arts Nicolaas Rockox (1560–1640) will be configured as a sumptuous private art gallery, featuring masterpieces from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts and key works from the Rockox House itself. A series of small, shorter exhibitions is being held as part of this overall project, the second of which is devoted to St Jerome – patron saint of the humanists and a key source of inspiration for sixteenth and seventeenth-century artists. Jerome was born around 347 CE in Stridon, in what is now Croatia. His father, Eusebius, came from a wealthy family. Jerome’s parents were Christians and they gave him the opportunity to study in Rome, where he developed an interest in the arts of rhetoric and literature. He was especially drawn to the secular writings of classical authors like Cicero, Virgil, Sallust and Terence, before going on to study Greek and Christian literature as well. Although Jerome was fascinated by Christian values, he struggled at this stage to balance worldly temptations with a life of restraint. He frequently refers in his letters to these youthful years spent in the imperial capital. When Jerome left Rome, he travelled to Trier, where he was employed for a while in the imperial civil service. It was here that he discovered the Vita Antonii (the Life of St Anthony), which made such a powerful impression on him that he was finally baptised as a Christian in around 365. Jerome’s personal quest now took him from Trier to Aquileia in northern Italy, where he joined a group of like-minded people to live an ascetic life, probably inspired by the Italian bishop, Eusebius of Vercelli. He left Italy some time around 373 on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Jerome sailed from Athens, but was taken ill and ended up spending roughly a year in Antioch, where he learned Greek. His health restored, he resumed his journey, which took him to the Chalkis desert in Syria, between Antioch and Aleppo, where he lived from 375 until 378. A monk of Jewish origin taught him Hebrew, and while still living in the wilderness, Jerome wrote a brief biography of Paul of Thebes (ca. 230–340) – the first of the so-called ‘Desert Fathers’ and the likely pioneer of the hermit ideal. Jerome was never fully accepted by the Syrian ascetics, so he left the desert after almost four years and returned to Antioch, where Bishop Paulinus ordained him as a priest. Jerome spent the years 383–385 back in Rome, where he was employed as secretary and adviser to Pope Damasus I. It was Damasus who commissioned him to produce a new Latin translation of the Bible, which became known as the Vulgate. During his time in the imperial capital, Jerome met a number of ascetic female aristocrats, who devoted themselves to reading the Bible and biblical commentaries. One of them, Marcella, chose Jerome as a 1 spiritual leader to teach her a methodical and critical approach to holy scripture. It was for this group that Jerome translated the commentaries on the Song of Songs by the controversial Bible exegetist, textual critic and Hebrew expert Origen (ca. 185–253/254). Jerome began his translation by revising the Latin texts of the Gospels, based on early Greek codices. His initiative was not well received by the Roman clergy, who saw it as an attack on Latin biblical tradition. Jerome’s friend Rufinus – who had translated and adapted several of Origen’s texts in a way with which Jerome did not always agree – was among those who turned against him. Jerome also published his letters, in which he presented himself as a hermit in the tradition of St Anthony – another faux pas, as far as the clergy were concerned. Damasus died on 11 December 384 and was succeeded by Pope Siricius, who ordered Jerome to leave the city. Jerome set off with a Roman aristocrat called Paula and her daughter to visit the holy sites in Palestine. He finally settled in Bethlehem in 386, where he lived out the remainder of his life as a hermit. A male and a female monastery were founded there with Paula’s support, along with a monastery school, which provided Jerome with a well-stocked library. From his base in Bethlehem, he communicated with a network of contacts throughout the Latin Christian world, and continued to work on his letters. Jerome’s commentaries made him an acknowledged authority on biblical exegesis. In 1295, Pope Boniface VIII (1235–1303) recognised Jerome posthumously as one of four ‘Doctors’ of the Latin Church, together with Augustine, bishop of Hippo, Ambrose, bishop of Milan, and Pope Gregory the Great. Each had been an influential early theologian, who had defended the Christian vision of life. One of the earliest biographical texts on Jerome is found in the famous Legenda aurea (‘Golden Legend’) – an anthology of saints’ lives, many of them with a mythical character, written by the Italian Dominican Jacobus de Voragine (1228–1298), archbishop of Genoa. The humanist Desiderius Erasmus (ca. 1466–1536) wrote a new biography of Jerome, stripped of mythical elements and based primarily on the saint’s own scholarly writings and letters, which themselves contained elements requiring judicious interpretation. Erasmus showed that Jerome had never been a cardinal, as generally supposed, given that no such rank yet existed in the early Christian period. The story of the lion, with which Jerome is so frequently depicted, is likewise rooted in myth. Our exhibition highlights the importance of St Jerome in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the inspiration on which artists drew in bringing his figure to life. We hope you enjoy it as much as we have. Hildegard Van de Velde Xavier Tricot 2 1. IMAGES OF JEROME 1.1. St Jerome in his study St Jerome inspired countless artists and was also depicted frequently from the late fifteenth century onwards in the visual arts of the Low Countries. No less than thirty percent of all saints’ images were in fact devoted to him. Jerome spent the final thirty-five years of his life in Bethlehem, where he founded monasteries and devoted himself to translating and writing commentaries on the Bible. He also produced a series of biographies and continued to work on his letters. The theme of Jerome in his study was a popular one in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, enabling artists to place the saint in a setting of their own imagination. Consequently, scenes like this tell us more about fifteenth and sixteenth-century interiors than they do about Jerome’s cell in early-Christian Bethlehem. One of the oldest images of St Jerome in his study is found in an oil sketch attributed to Jan van Eyck and finished by another hand in 1442, a year after the painter’s death (Detroit Institute of Arts, not in the exhibition). It shows the saint in a cardinal’s robe and hat, sitting on a late-Gothic prie-dieu at an improvised table, and leafing through a book on a lectern. Versions by the fifteenth-century Italian artists Antonello da Messina and Domenico Ghirlandaio also feature Jerome studying in a domestic setting. A 1521 work by the German artist Albrecht Dürer (now in Lisbon) and another dating from around 1520 by the Flemish painter Quinten Massijs (known only from a copy, now in Vienna) introduced a new take on St Jerome in the early sixteenth century, by leaving out both the lion and the cardinal’s hat. The focus in these works is entirely on the saint himself, the Bible and the skull. It is possible that Dürer and Massijs were influenced in this regard by the humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam, who had recently written a more objective, demythologised biography of St Jerome. The scholar’s study in which Jerome is depicted is a forerunner in many ways of paintings showing private picture galleries and cabinets of curiosities. All sorts of objects are grouped together in a confined space: in addition to books, we see small items like ink pots, vases, boxes, candleholders, the occasional little painting, scientific instruments, and an hourglass – attributes, both symbolic and practical, of St Jerome. The image of Jerome working in his study can, however, also be interpreted as a symbol of humanism – the intellectual movement that achieved a fresh interpretation of ancient Greek and Roman scholarship, not to mention Jerome’s own writings too, which Erasmus critically reworked for the sixteenth century. The Bible and numerous other volumes often feature in these pictures. 3 F R O M PAT I N I R T O R I B E R A St Jerome in Words and Images 1. (Attributed to) Hieronymus Wierix (Antwerp, 1553?–1619) after Albrecht Dürer (Nuremberg, 1471–1528) St Jerome, ca. 1566 engraving Antwerp, private collection Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, engraver and humanist. He toured the Low Countries, where he was inspired by the Flemish Primitives, and Italy, where he enthusiastically embraced the Renaissance. Dürer had an excellent eye for detail and a fascination for nature. His painting demonstrates his knowledge of perspective, and he actually wrote a scientific treatise on geometry and composition. He also changed the nature of portrait painting by introducing the frontal self-portrait. Dürer’s printmaking – especially his woodcuts – were world famous too, evolving in parallel with the art of bookprinting. This engraving, originally done by Dürer himself in 1514, is a sixteenth-century copy, probably by Hieronymus Wierix, after Dürer’s original. The cardinal’s hat and the hourglass tell us that it is St Jerome we see writing at his desk, with its elegant legs. The diagonal that links his head with the crucifix and the skull symbolically emphasises the idea of transience. The way the light enters through the leaded glass, casting a lovely shadow on the window bay, is brilliant. The lion stretches out peacefully in the foreground, next to a dog – a frequent symbol in Dürer’s work of loyalty. 4 2. (Copy after) Marinus van Reymerswale (Reimerswaal, 1490/95 – Goes, 1546/56) St Jerome of Bethlehem, sixteenth century oil on wood, Antwerp, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, inv. 990 Van Reymerswale was an artist from Zeeland, who was influenced by Quinten Massijs and Albrecht Dürer. Jerome sits at his desk with a Bible opened at a fine miniature of the Last Judgement, showing the enthroned Christ flanked by two trumpet-playing angels. The Virgin Mary and St John the Baptist kneel at his feet. The image of the Last Judgement is inspired by Dürer’s 1510 engraving from The Small Passion. Jerome directs his anguished gaze toward us, his face deeply lined. His left hand points toward the skull lying on the table before him. This image of Jerome was very popular in the sixteenth century and draws on the representation of the saint developed by Dürer in 1521, although the lion has disappeared. Various copies survive, including versions in Douai, Bamberg, Amsterdam and Bruges. The original work, signed and dated (1521), is now in the Prado in Madrid. The Antwerp copy is close in quality to the Prado version. TRUMPET The angels’ trumpets are simple, early versions of the instrument, which dates back two millennia before Christ. One of the oldest sources in which it is mentioned is the Bible. Trumpets were mainly used for signalling purposes. In its original form, the trumpet consisted of a straight tube, flaring out at the end in a bell shape. This version died out after the fall of the Roman Empire, but a new, S-shaped model emerged in the Middle Ages. 5 F R O M PAT I N I R T O R I B E R A St Jerome in Words and Images EXHIBITED IN THE GOLDEN CABINET Jan van Hemessen (Hemiksem ca. 1500–after 1575) St Jerome as a Monk oil on wood Antwerp, Rockox House Jan van Hemessen enrolled as an independent master in the Antwerp Guild of St Luke in 1524, and later served as its dean. Van Hemessen mainly painted religious and genre scenes, but also produced satirical portraits. His works belong to the Mannerist school, and are identifiable from his attention to detail and intense facial expressions. His influences included Quinten Massijs. Jan van Hemessen was the father of the Antwerp painter Catharina van Hemessen, whose work also features in The Golden Cabinet. Jerome gazes meditatively at a Bible propped up by a skull. His spectacles, a kind of pince-nez, lie by his sleeve. Through the window we can see a group of buildings in the Flemish late-Gothic style, which are probably meant to represent Bethlehem. The camels and donkey referred to in the Legenda aurea stand in front of them. In the clouds above we see a vision of Christ sitting on a rainbow, with angels blowing the trumpets that summon the dead to rise for Last Judgement. This is the museum’s only painting from Nicolaas Rockox’ original collection. His ownership of it shows his appreciation of St Jerome’s importance and his desire to promote the values of humanism, of which Rockox himself was a leading figure. 6 3. Jan Massijs (Antwerp, 1509–1675) St Jerome, ca. 1530–1540 oil on wood Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, inv. P02099 We do not know much about Jan Massijs, son of the painter Quinten Massijs the Elder. Jan was forced to leave the Low Countries in 1544 following accusations that he was a follower of the sect leader Loy de Schaliedekker (Eligius Pruystinck), and he lived for a time in Genoa. His sensual, refined and Mannerist style suggests that he was also familiar with the Fontainebleau School. Jan Massijs’ St Jerome draws on the aforementioned works by Dürer and Quinten Massijs. He is likely to have seen the open book with its miniature of the Last Judgement in his father’s workshop, and the motif also appears in Van Reymerswale. The horizontal format for the representation of the saint is also his father’s invention. The finger pointing toward the skull, meanwhile, is borrowed from Dürer’s 1521 image. 4. Flemish School (1550–1570) St Jerome oil on wood Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art, inv. 2013.8 This Jerome has a study in a Renaissance palazzo, of the kind in which Maerten de Vos too placed many of his religious scenes. Jerome sits at an imposing table supported by a central foot with built-in storage compartments, in which we see the saint’s rivet spectacles and a pair of scissors. The table is supported by two sphinx figures – creatures with a lion’s body and a human head – at which Jerome’s lion, stretched out beneath the table, gazes thoughtfully. All the other customary attributes are present too: the skull, crucifix and Bible on the table, and the cardinal’s hat, hourglass and books in a wide niche. The Renaissance architecture of the study extends into the space to the rear, offering us a view of a mountainous landscape. 7 F R O M PAT I N I R T O R I B E R A St Jerome in Words and Images RIVET SPECTACLES Rivet spectacles were invented in the early fourteenth century and are one of the earliest forms of eyeglasses. They consist of two round lenses mounted in a metal, wooden or horn ring. Each ring has a little handle, by which the lenses are connected with a rivet to create a hinge. Spectacle frames with arms reaching behind the ears were not invented until the eighteenth century. 5. Anonymous master, Southern Netherlands (third quarter, sixteenth century) St Jerome oil on wood Antwerp, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, inv. 5087 This anonymous artist presents a fairly traditional image of St Jerome sitting at his desk, with the lion at his right hand. He reads his book and makes notes. Several obvious symbols of transience are displayed on the bench in front of the table: a lute (a very popular musical instrument from the late Middle Ages to the Baroque era), the candleholder with the extinguished candle, the skull and the books. The scene also features new elements, however, that bring us into the seventeenth century: the classically inspired vase of flowers on the table, for instance, and the red curtain, which often features in Baroque painting, especially in portraits. 8 1.2. Depictions of Jerome with other saints Jerome regularly appears in the side-panels of triptychs, where he often accompanies the painting’s donors – either as their patron saint, or as a figure of general importance. In other instances he himself is the subject of the central panel, in which he is presented as a hermit. And we also find frequent depictions of St Jerome in the company of the three other Doctors of the Latin Church. 6. Vittore Carpaccio (Capo d’Istria, ca. 1465–1525/27) Virgin and Child with Saints Catharine and Jerome, 1507/08 oil on wood Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle, inv. 415 We know very little about Carpaccio’s life. His father was a leather dealer called Piero Scarpazza, but the artist later changed his surname to Carpaccio. He is chiefly known for the nine paintings he produced on the legend of St Ursula. His work is notable for its particular use of red tones. He is likely to have trained under Gentile Bellini, among others, and was certainly influenced by him, as we can see in this painting. Mary and Catherine’s hands and Jesus’ body are derived from Bellini’s Sacra Conversazione in the Prado in Madrid. St Catherine of Alexandria was frequently depicted with Mary and the Christ Child, as she was believed to have entered into a mystic marriage with Jesus. Jerome stands behind Mary, reading the Bible. He is identifiable only from his red cloak and the book, which is half concealed by the Virgin. He is presented in a somewhat archaic manner, with a very long beard. His cardinal’s hat is nowhere to be seen. CARPACCIO? Carpaccio was originally a dish consisting of thinly sliced beef, mayonnaise, Worcester sauce, tabasco and white pepper, often served as a starter. It was invented in 1950 by Giuseppe Cipriani, owner of Harry’s Bar in Venice. He named it after the painter Vittore Carpaccio, whose work – the focus at the time of a retrospective exhibition – stood out for its strong red tones. 9 F R O M PAT I N I R T O R I B E R A St Jerome in Words and Images 7. Adriaen Isenbrant (? 1475/95 – Bruges, 1551) Virgin and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Jerome oil on wood Bruges, Groeninge Museum, inv. 0000.GRO1376.1 The first record of Isenbrant is as an independent master in the Bruges Guild of St Luke and the Guild of St Eloy, to which the city’s goldsmiths belonged. He was employed in the workshop of Gerard David – Bruges’ leading artist at the time – alongside Albert Cornelis and Ambrosius Benson. Isenbrant’s paintings are characterised by their detailed finish and immense sense of refinement. His figures are perfectly coloured, with subtle red and dark-blue tones, while the landscapes in the background refer to the art of Gerard David. This Virgin and Child is an interpretation of Notre-Dame de Cambrai – an Italo-Byzantine icon brought from Rome to the cathedral in Cambrai some time around 1550, which was widely copied. The side-panel on the left shows John the Baptist, whom we recognise from the words he is speaking: Ecce Agnus Dei (‘Behold the Lamb of God’). St Jerome appears in the panel on the right, clearly identifiable from his hat and the lion at his feet. The landscape seems to continue from the scene in the central panel into the one with Jerome, but not the one containing John the Baptist. There is a coat of arms on the back of the lefthand panel belonging to the Pardo family of Spanish merchants, who settled in Bruges in the fifteenth century. 8. Anonymous (Mechelen?, first half sixteenth century) Portable reliquary altarpiece with Saints Jerome and John the Baptist oil on wood and miscellaneous materials Cassel, Musée de Flandre, inv. 20009,3.1. Small, portable reliquary altarpieces like this were created with immense patience by nuns and beguines. They are related to the famous little ‘enclosed garden’ altarpieces produced in Mechelen (Malines) and were frequently presented as gifts. The central scene is a composition of 10 embroidered floral and insect motifs. Small relics, now lost, once featured among the little pieces of paper, which are still present. The embroidered cartouche in the middle shows a lamb turning its head toward the right side-panel, in which we see St John the Baptist, identifiable from the animal skin he wears and the cross. The water next to him probably represents the River Jordan. The left-hand panel shows St Jerome as a hermit, kneeling before a crucifix and chastising himself with a rock. The cardinal’s hat and lion are also present. 9. Otto van Veen (Leiden, 1555 – Brussels, 1629) Four Latin Doctors oil sketch Private collection This oil sketch by Van Veen shows the four Doctors of the Latin Church, identifiable from their headgear. ‘Doctor of the Church’ or Doctor ecclesiae is an honorary title bestowed on certain individuals in recognition of their exemplary lifestyle, loyalty to Church doctrine, and erudition. Pope Boniface VIII granted the title in 1295 to Ambrose (Trier, 339 – Milan, 397), Jerome, Augustine (Thagaste, 354 – Hippo, 430) and Gregory the Great (Rome, ca. 540–604). Looking from left to right, the first two figures are bishops. Ambrose, former bishop of Milan, was customarily depicted wearing a mitre and sometimes also with a beehive, in a reference to his legend. He is the patron saint of beekeepers to this day. No attributes are shown here, however, so the first figure on the left might also be Augustine, bishop of Hippo, theologian and philosopher, who is occasionally represented holding a flaming heart. The third figure, placed a little further back, is Jerome, identifiable from his cardinal’s hat. Gregory the Great, lastly, sits next to Jerome, wearing the papal tiara. Part of his staff is also visible. 11 F R O M PAT I N I R T O R I B E R A St Jerome in Words and Images 12 Hieronymus Bosch (circa 1450 – 1516) St Jerome at Prayer oil on wood Ghent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten (not in the exhibition) 1.3. St Jerome as a hermit One of the most powerful paintings of this saint as a hermit was done around 1500 by Hieronymus Bosch – St Jerome at Prayer (Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent, not in the exhibition). It shows Jerome as a penitent in a green landscape. The painting represented a new type of image, which is amply represented in the exhibition. Innovative, secular themes developed in the early Renaissance, alongside the religious subjects and portraits that had dominated the visual arts in the Middle Ages. Landscape, for instance, gradually began to displace religious subject matter. St Jerome spent a substantial proportion of his life in isolation. He underwent his most intensely ascetic period in the desert, primarily at a monastery in Bethlehem. All the same, virtually no images are known in which Jerome is shown in the desert as such. Instead, the background mostly features magnificent and often idealised landscapes with fanciful crags, which also evoke a powerful sense of alienation. Jerome appears in the foreground, in total isolation, or in a green oasis, equally cut off from the world. This mode of representation fits perfectly into the evolution of landscape painting. Images of Jerome as a hermit recall the depiction of St Anthony of Egypt (ca. 251–356), one of the first Christian hermits. Anthony withdrew into the Egyptian desert where, according to his legend, he was tormented by demons. The iconography of St John the Evangelist on Patmos shares a similar atmosphere of isolation. Hieronymus Bosch depicted both of these saints, too. Human beings were firmly recognised as individuals in the Renaissance, and there is a focus on the existential experience of loneliness, isolation and alienation in both the thinking and visual culture of the period. Jerome can be seen as a symbol of this. It was also in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century that artists began to apply the chiaroscuro technique, with its powerful lighting effects, to dramatise their depiction of the penitent Jerome. 13 F R O M PAT I N I R T O R I B E R A St Jerome in Words and Images 10. Anonymous, Brabant (early sixteenth century) St Jerome polychrome oak Leuven, Museum M, inv. C/372 This fine example of Brabant woodcarving summarises all of St Jerome’s different facets: the lion at his feet; a book in his hand, referring to his Bible translation and to his erudition and theological knowledge in general; the red hat and the cardinal’s gown over his penitent’s robe; his weather-beaten face, with its long beard; and his forward movement, suggesting resolution and vigour. ST JEROME AND THE LION: A MYTH Jerome was supposedly visited one evening in Bethlehem by a lion with a thorn in its paw, which the kindly hermit removed. Henceforth, the grateful lion remained with him as a loyal companion, who escorted the donkey that fetched firewood from the forest each day. On one occasion, however, the lion fell asleep and passing merchants took the donkey with them. The guilty lion assumed the task of collecting wood, but later managed to recover the donkey, which was being used to lead a caravan. 14 ST JEROME AND HIS SYMBOLS The Bible or books in general represent Jerome’s linguistic skills, erudition, intellect, and humanism. His cardinal’s robe and hat refer to his status as ‘Doctor of the Church’ and former adviser to Pope Damasus I. The hourglass, skull and crucifix are symbols of penitence and the transience of life. The rock with which he chastises himself stands for the renunciation of sin. And the lion alludes to his myth, but also to his charisma. 11. Joachim Patinir (Bouvignes? 1475/80 – Antwerp 1515/24) St Jerome in a Landscape oil on oak Antwerp, Mayer van den Bergh Museum, inv. MMB0029 Joachim Patinir came from the Dinant region and most likely trained as a painter in Gerard David’s workshop in Bruges. He enrolled in the Antwerp Guild of St Luke in 1515. Many sixteenth-century painters specialised in a particular genre and Patinir was the first true landscape artist in the Low Countries. Albrecht Dürer, whom he probably met during the German’s visit to Antwerp in 1520/21, called him ‘der gut landschaft maler’ – the first time the word ‘landscape’ had been used in the German language. St Jerome kneels before a crucifix at the entrance to his cave. He clasps a rock with which he is chastising himself. The skull too is a symbol of his penitence. A book lies on the ground, referring to his many writings, most notably the Vulgate. St Jerome is depicted without his lion, but the camels and probably also the donkey – like the lion, mentioned only in the pages of the thirteenth-century Legenda aurea – can be made out upper left, at the top of the hill next to the crag. The figure of Jerome is suggestively painted, and is dominated by the striking, rocky landscape. Patinir drew inspiration from the cliffs of the Meuse valley, but these fanciful formations are his own invention. The composition of the rock in the foreground is very similar to Patinir’s versions of the same theme in the Prado, Madrid and the National Gallery, London. 15 F R O M PAT I N I R T O R I B E R A St Jerome in Words and Images 12. Joos van Cleve (Kleve?, ca. 1485 – Antwerp, 1540/41) The Penitent St Jerome oil on wood Anderlecht, Erasmus House Museum, MEH 222 Van Cleve probably trained as an artist in his native Kleve (Cleves), a German duchy in North Rhine-Westphalia. He is recorded in Bruges around 1507, and enrolled as a master painter in the Antwerp Guild of St Luke in 1511. His style is indebted to the art of Jan van Eyck and the Master of Flémalle in the fifteenth century, and to his contemporaries Quinten Massijs the Elder and Jan Gossart in the early sixteenth. Italian influences can also be detected in his work. Van Cleve was one of Antwerp’s most influential artists, producing mainly portraits and altarpieces. He often incorporated magnificent background landscapes. Unlike Patinir’s painting, the viewer’s attention is focused here entirely on St Jerome, with the landscape functioning purely as a backdrop. Once again, the saint grasps a rock in his hand, while gazing at the crucifix. His skull and book attributes are likewise present. The lion which, according to the Legenda aurea, visited him at the monastery in Bethlehem, lies at his knees. The cardinal’s hat leans against the tree, and his robe is laid on the ground. Jerome was never actually a cardinal, however, as the post did not exist in his era, but he was a monk and a priest. He states in one of his letters that, as a young man, he was employed as secretary to Pope Damasus. 16 13. Lucas Gassel (Helmond, 1480/1500 – ?, 1568/1569) Hieroniimus in deserto/St Jerome in the Wilderness burin engraving Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus Museum/Print Room, inv. III/G. 986 Gassel was a late-Renaissance painter active in Antwerp. He mainly painted landscapes as the setting for religious subjects and had an excellent eye for detail. Gassel was popular in the Southern Netherlands, but few of his works have survived. The focus in this print is on a marvellous monastery complex, with adjoining gardens and farmland. There is a hilly landscape in the background, with a city on the horizon. Less immediately obvious is the semi-naked figure of St Jerome, who kneels before a crucifix in the left foreground. He is shielded from view, even in this closed community, and performs his penance in total isolation. His customary attributes are distributed around the print. 14. Cornelis Massijs (Antwerp ca. 1510/11–1556/57) Landscape with St Jerome, 1547 oil on wood Antwerp, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, inv. 830 Cornelis Massijs – son of the famous Quinten and brother of Jan – started out as a draughtsman and engraver. He enrolled in the Antwerp Guild of St Luke in 1532. His landscapes, including this oil painting, often include fanciful rocky outcrops and are influenced by the style of Joachim Patinir. As in the latter’s work, the landscape is the dominant element in Cornelis Massijs’ art. The tree on the right and the tall crag on the left guide the viewer’s eye toward a distant panorama, beyond the abbey in the middle of the landscape. Jerome sits by a path on the plateau in the foreground, reading a letter while resting his hands on a tree trunk. His cardinal’s hat lies on the ground, and two camels led by a donkey pass by on the road behind him, referring to a story in the Legenda aurea. 17 F R O M PAT I N I R T O R I B E R A St Jerome in Words and Images EXHIBITED IN THE GOLDEN CABINET Jan van Hemessen (Hemiksem ca.1500 – after 1575) St Jerome oil on wood Antwerp, private collection St Jerome has withdrawn to a cave, where he meditates before a crucifix next to a skull. Through the mouth of the cave, we glimpse a magnificent mountain landscape in the upper right corner. Note the little details of which Van Hemessen was such a master and which identify him as a Mannerist painter: the nails used to hang Christ on the cross, the lines in Jerome’s face and his grimy fingernails. 15. Herri met de Bles (Dinant, ca. 1510–ca. 1560) Landscape with St Jerome, second decade, sixteenth century oil on wood Namur, Musée des Arts Anciens du Namurois, inv. 158 We know virtually nothing about Herri met de Bles. According to the Dutch painter and early art historian Karel van Mander, he got his name from a white patch or blaze of hair. Herri seems to have been part of the circle of Joachim Patinir, from whom he drew inspiration, and worked primarily in Antwerp. Where Patinir chose to emphasise panoramic landscapes and views, Herri met de Bles wants us to focus on a rocky outcrop in the foreground, where St Jerome, dressed only in a loincloth, kneels in prayer before a crucifix. The cardinal’s robe and hat have been laid aside, symbolising the saint’s penitence for his selfishness and vanity. The skull and hourglass at his feet are metaphors for vanitas, the transience of life. The rock separates the active, everyday world from Jerome’s world of contemplation. A vision of God the Father, the risen Christ and the Virgin Mary appears in the sky within concentric circles that recall images of the Last Judgement. Several animals are depicted in the shadowy part of the outcrop, including 18 the lion and the camels mentioned in the Life of Jerome in the Legenda aurea. We also make out a rabbit, a fox and some goats. A swan, a sheep and a family of bears can be seen on the right. Herri met de Bles has painted a realistic piece of nature in the foreground, which is indebted to fifteenth-century artists like Jan van Eyck. The plants include bracken, Solomon’s Seal and foxgloves. 16. Cornelis Cort (Hoorn, Edam?, 1533? – Rome, 1578), after Titian (Pievo di Cadore, 1485/1490 – Venice, 1576) St Jerome in the Wilderness, ca.1565 engraving Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus Museum/Print Room, inv. III/C.503 The Dutch engraver and draughtsman Cornelis Cort visited Venice in 1565/66, staying with the Italian Renaissance painter Titian. He produced several engravings after Titian’s paintings, including this St Jerome. The saint sits on a rocky outcrop, reading. Once again, the crag cuts him off from the world. The rocks are dominated by a dead tree trunk – a symbol of transience, just like the skull in the foreground, the crucifix and the hourglass. Jerome himself appears very relaxed in the scene. 19 F R O M PAT I N I R T O R I B E R A St Jerome in Words and Images 17. Johann Sadeler the Elder (Brussels, 1550 – Venice, 1600/08) after Gillis Mostaert the Elder (Hulst, 1528 – Antwerp, 1598) St Jerome engraving Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus Museum/Print Room, inv. III/S.327 Sadeler was a draughtsman, engraver and publisher. He enrolled in the Antwerp Guild of St Luke as a copperplate engraver in 1572, and produced prints after works by Michiel Coxcie and others. Sadeler and his brothers also worked closely with Maerten de Vos for several years. Gillis Mostaert joined the Guild of St Luke in Antwerp in 1554/55. He mostly painted genre works, landscapes and architectural compositions, drawing inspiration primarily from Hieronymus Bosch. St Jerome is shown kneeling at the entrance to the cave, with a crucifix in one hand and a rock in the other. Through the mouth of the cave we make out a building, probably his monastery in Bethlehem. All the other familiar attributes are present, but this scene also includes an image of the Madonna and Child as a symbol of divine love. There is a broken statue on the ground, probably representing Venus – an emblem in this context of physical and hence impure love. 18. Cornelis Cort (1533? – Rome 1578) after Jeronimo Muciano (Spanish school, sixteenth century) St Jerome, 1573 engraving Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus Museum/Print Room, inv. IV C. 121 This is a variation on the Jerome theme. The left side of the print contains a majestic landscape without any monastery or buildings. Jerome himself is shown with a variety of symbols, and his books are stacked somewhat carelessly. During his period of isolation in the desert community, he had a library at his disposal. 20 19. Jan de Bisschop (Amsterdam, 1628 – The Hague, 1671) after Federico Zuccaro (Sant’Angelo in Vado, ca. 1539/43 – Ancona, 1609) St Jerome etching and engraving Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus Museum/Print Room, inv. F II/B.171 The Dutch printmaker Jan de Bisschop engraved this image of St Jerome after an original by the Italian Mannerist, artist and architect Federico Zuccaro, who specialised in painting frescoes in churches. His works can be found in several churches in Rome, Florence and Venice, and Zuccaro was also commissioned to decorate the Escorial by King Philip II of Spain in 1586. It was there that he is believed to have painted this St Jerome. Philip did not approve of his work, however, and the artist was sent back to Italy after two years. Many of his frescoes were overpainted. Unlike the paintings and prints we have seen so far, Jerome is shown here kneeling before a life-sized Christ on the cross, beneath which we see Mary Magdalene, the Virgin Mary and a young St John. Jerome holds a rock in his hand, with which he chastises himself, while little angels’ heads hover around the cross. 21 F R O M PAT I N I R T O R I B E R A St Jerome in Words and Images 20. Maerten de Vos (Antwerp, 1532–1603) The Penitent St Jerome, 1585 sepia Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus Museum/Print Room, inv. D.X.13 Maerten de Vos was an important artist who helped lay the foundations of Baroque art in the late sixteenth century. He served as dean of the Antwerp Guild of St Luke. From 1574 onwards, he mainly received commissions from craft guilds and religious confraternities for monumental paintings to decorate their altars in the cathedral. In this way, De Vos helped revitalise the cathedral interior during the Counter Reformation. He focused on a descriptive representation of his themes, of which this version of St Jerome is a good example. He tells the saint’s story via a few deft touches within a limited area. A small tower is visible on the right of this sepia drawing, probably referring to Jerome’s monastery. THE NORTHERN CARDINAL The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is a red songbird of the Cardinalidae family. 22 21. Jacob de Wit (Amsterdam, 1695–1754), after Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen?, 1577 – Antwerp, 1640) St Jerome, 1708–1754 watercolour, gouache, Indian ink Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus Museum/Print Room, inv. D. 6.II See nr. 22 22. Jean-Benjamin Müller (eighteenth century), after Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen?, 1577 – Antwerp, 1640) St Jerome, second half eighteenth century drawing and watercolour Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus Museum/Print Room, inv. A. XIX.6 These two drawings are copies after one of Rubens’ thirty-nine ceiling paintings in the Church of St Charles Borromeo in Antwerp, which were destroyed in a fire in 1718. The painting of St Jerome was located in the ceiling of the lower storey of the aisles, along with seven other Doctors of the Church and eight female saints. The Amsterdam Rococo painter Jacob de Wit was highly active as a painter of ceilings and grisaille imitation reliefs. He was in Antwerp in 1711–1712, during which stay he copied a number of paintings, including Rubens’ works for the St Charles Borromeo ceiling. Having returned to Amsterdam, de Wit produced several copies of his series of thirty-six drawings after the Rubens paintings. De Wit’s ‘original’ series, which he made directly from the ceiling images in Antwerp, does not appear to have survived. Jerome is shown in the clouds, with the lion at his feet. He is accompanied by a trumpet-playing angel. Jerome’s charisma is the most noteworthy feature of the two drawings. 23 F R O M PAT I N I R T O R I B E R A St Jerome in Words and Images 23. Jusepe Ribera (Xativa, 1588/1591 – Naples, 1652/1656) St Jerome, 1643 Oil on canvas Lille, Palais des Beaux-Arts, inv. P42 See nr. 24 24. Jusepe Ribera (Xativa, 1588/1591 – Naples, 1652/1656) St Jerome, 1644 Oil on canvas Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, inv. P01096 Ribera belonged to the Spanish school of painting, and probably trained under the prominent artist Francisco Ribalta. He worked in Italy – in Parma and Rome – from 1606, settling permanently in 1616 in Naples, which was then part of the Spanish empire. Ribera served for many years as court painter to the Spanish viceroy Pedro Téllez-Girón. His debt to Caravaggio is evident not only in his use of chiaroscuro lighting effects, but also his realism. Other Italian Renaissance artists, such as Correggio and Veronese, similarly influenced his work. Ribera was a great admirer of Rubens and Van Dyck too. The theme of the penitent St Jerome in the wilderness began to evolve in the final quarter of the sixteenth century: Jerome is ‘desanctified’, becoming a flesh-and-blood human being. He is still a man of great piety, deserving of respect, but the element of decorum disappears and his asceticism is emphasised. Realism is now the key element in the way the penitent saint is portrayed. His deeply lined face and unruly beard testify to a life of resignation. His skin is tanned, and his fingernails dirty. 24 25. Rembrandt (Leiden,1606 – Amsterdam,1669) St Jerome by a Willow Tree, 1648 etching and dry point on paper Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle, inv. VI 2052 Rembrandt is considered the most important master of the Dutch Baroque, in both painting and printmaking. His work shows a near-perfect command of the chiaroscuro technique. Between roughly 1626 and 1660, Rembrandt produced some three hundred etchings. His printmaking was initially based on his drawing skills, but later evolved to reflect his painting technique more closely. Rembrandt made seven etchings and a drawing of St Jerome. The centrepiece of this one is a realistically rendered pollard willow, rather than the customary rocky outcrop. Jerome sits at an improvised table, writing. A pile of books with a skull on top leans against the willow, which symbolises the asceticism in which Jerome lived, both in the desert and later in the monastery in Bethlehem. The lion peering out from behind the tree is less successful then we would expect from Rembrandt. When he made the print, the Dutch master had never seen a lion in the flesh, merely the heraldic versions found in aristocratic coats of arms. He did not lay eyes on the real thing until 1652, when the Dutch East India Company brought a lion back to Amsterdam, where it was displayed in a zoological garden. Rembrandt drew that lion several times in 1652–1653, but the one in this print is drawn from an earlier Dürer etching. 25 F R O M PAT I N I R T O R I B E R A St Jerome in Words and Images 26. Jan Lievens (Leiden, 1607 – Amsterdam, 1674) St Jerome as a Hermit, ca. 1631 oil on wood Leiden, Museum De Lakenhal, inv. S1531 Lievens was a Dutch history and portrait painter, and a draughtsman. He was a contemporary of Rembrandt, with whom he worked closely in his early years, the two artists learning from one another’s style. Lievens spent a number of years in the 1630s in England, where he was likewise influenced by Rubens and Van Dyck. He was a revered artist in his lifetime, and was actually more popular in his native Leiden than Rembrandt. Like his illustrious counterpart, Lievens was an accomplished printmaker, and he made an etching of his oil painting of St Jerome that is easier to ‘read’ than the original canvas. Jerome has withdrawn to a dark cave, to lead the life of a penitent. The powerful chiaroscuro lighting and his pose lend the scene a sense of drama. The focus is firmly on the saint’s hunched posture: several of his attributes are present, but not prominently so. Note the details that make Jerome a man of flesh and blood: the slippers he has kicked off, the wooden bowl from which he probably eats, and the large jug behind the hefty book. 27. Jan Lievens (Leiden, 1607 – Amsterdam, 1674) St Jerome as a Hermit, 1630–1636 etching Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus Museum/Print Room, inv III L131 See nr. 26 26 2. JEROME IN WORDS There was renewed interest in the fifteenth century in Jerome’s writings, so the German printer Peter Schoiffer (Gernsheim, ca. 1425 – Mainz, 1503) was highly commended for the various editions he published of the Church Father’s letters. Early sixteenth-century humanists admired Jerome for his erudition and linguistic skills, praising his pioneering translation of the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into orthodox Latin. Erasmus of Rotterdam (ca. 1466– 1536) rekindled interest in that translation, known as the Vulgate. The Dutch humanist was a great admirer of Jerome, and put his own writing skills and analytical vision to work in highlighting his ancient precursor as a model for his fellow sixteenth-century scholars. 28. Erasmus, Hieronymi Stridonensis vita, Basel, Johann Froben, May 1519 Anderlecht, Erasmus House, inv. E 1012 Erasmus’ biography of St Jerome, Vita Hieronymi, was first published as an introduction to his edition of Jerome’s letters, Opera Omnia Hieronymi (Basel 1516). It was reprinted shortly afterwards as a separate publication (Basel 1517). Erasmus wanted to sketch as objective a portrait of Jerome as possible: not only as a Christian, but also as a man of intellect, principle and motivation. His critical take on Jerome’s life established a fresh approach to the hagiography, or saint’s biography. At the same time, Erasmus’ Vita was a tribute to the illustrious ancient scholar. VULGATE The name Vulgate comes from the expression ‘versio vulgata’, meaning vernacular Latin – a language that differed significantly from Ciceronian or literary Latin, of which Jerome also had an expert knowledge. He produced the Vulgate translation so that a more readily understandable version of the Bible could be distributed. 27 F R O M PAT I N I R T O R I B E R A St Jerome in Words and Images 29. Heribertus Rosweydus, Het leven ende spreucken der vaderen beschreven door den H Hieronymus priester ende andere verscheyde autheuren…, Antwerp, Hieronymus Verdussen II, 1643 Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus Museum/Print Room, inv. A 2894 Heribertus Rosweyden was an Antwerp Jesuit and hagiographer, who served as professor at the Jesuit college in Douai in the final years of the sixteenth century. He devoted his free time to copying texts on ecclesiastical history and the Lives of the Saints in abbey libraries in Hainaut and French Flanders. His unfinished study of saints’ Vitae was continued by Jean Bolland (1596–1665) – another Jesuit and hagiographer, and the founder of the Bollandist association of scholars, philologists and historians. Although Erasmus had done ground-breaking work in the field of Saints’ Lives in the early sixteenth century, he did not merit a mention in Rosweydus’ work. The book is open at the chapter Jerome wrote about St Paul: Het leven vanden Heylighen Paulus den eersten Heremiit beschreven door den H. Hieronymus priester. Jerome wrote his Vita Pauli during his time in the desert, and it is believed to be the first hagiography written in Latin. Jerome viewed St Paul as the first hermit, directly contradicting the idea that St Anthony had played that role. Although his Vitae are engagingly written, they need to be read with a critical, scholarly eye. We can make out a quotation on the left-hand page from Jerome’s first letter to the bishop of Altino, Heliodorus (died ca. 390), whom Jerome met during his time in Bethlehem. 28 30. Opera divi Hieronymi Stridoniensis, ecclesiae doctoris per Marianum Victoriem Reatinum ex manuscriptis codicibus multo labore emendata, & ab innumeris erroribus vindicata. Antverpiae, Ex Officina Christophori Plantini, 1579 Dilbeek, Cultura Fonds Jerome’s complete works, as compiled by Marianus Victorius, ran to nine chapters, bound in three volumes. This is the first volume, containing his letters and his writings against heresy. It is opened at the title page, but our eye is drawn to the marvellous engraving opposite by Johann Sadeler, after a design by Crispianus featuring the year 1576. St Jerome can be seen in his study through a rounded arch supported by two caryatids. The one on the left holds an anchor, symbolising hope, and the one on the right a cross, the emblem of faith. Two little angels sit at the top holding a garland, to which vanitas symbols are attached, including a sundial, an hourglass and a skull. The two smaller cartouches contain other fragments from the life of St Jerome. He is shown as a hermit in the lower one, while at the top he is dressed as a cardinal and takes the lion’s wounded paw in his hand. The books are the most prominent feature of the central scene. Jerome’s greatest achievement was undoubtedly his Bible translation, on which he worked between 391 and 406. 31. Epistolae et tractatus per Petrum Schoiffer de Gernsheim In civitate mobili Moguntina (Mainz), 1470, 408 fol. Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus Museum/Print Room, inv. R 9.3 This early printed book (incunabulum) was published in the German city of Mainz on 7 September 1470 by Peter Schöffer, Gutenberg’s most important collaborator. There was a limited edition printed on vellum and containing seven illuminated miniatures, but this simpler version on paper is also a fine example of the book-printer’s art. It is printed in red and black, but several other colours have been used to illuminate the capital letters. A beautifully 29 F R O M PAT I N I R T O R I B E R A St Jerome in Words and Images decorated ‘D’ can be seen on the first page of this collection of letters, filled with floral motifs and touches of gold. The illumination is further heightened by a horizontal and a vertical decorative line. The lettering used for the book is Gothic rotunda script. Schöffer’s edition reveals an intensive study of Jerome’s correspondence, which is ordered by theme. Jerome wrote mostly to fellow Christians and friends on a variety of subjects. He attacked heresy, pointed out an acquaintance’s sins, congratulated a pope, urged someone to repent, philosophised about death and explained his own writings. The letters are historically important, and offer us a glimpse into Jerome’s mind. 32. Novum Testamentum ab Erasmo recognitum. Paraclesis ad lectorem pium Ratio seu Methodus compendio perveniendi ad veram theologiam Apologia. Capita argumentorum contra morosos quosdam ac indoctos Annotationes in Novum Testamentum, Basel, Johann Froben, March 1519 Anderlecht, Erasmus House, inv. E 634 Erasmus’ knowledge of Greek and Latin convinced him that certain parts of Jerome’s Vulgate had been incorrectly translated. He decided to reprint the New Testament in Greek, together with the Latin translation. Erasmus called on the best printers of the day to publish his works, as his texts required specialist typography and few printing houses had Greek type available in the early sixteenth century. Erasmus produced his first New Testament translation in 1516. The example shown here is the second, revised edition of 1519, in which numerous errors in the first have already been corrected. Erasmus came in for fierce criticism from the Catholic establishment and university in Leuven (Louvain) for his translation, as Latin and not Greek was seen as the language of the Church. 30 33. Johann Sadeler the Elder (Brussels, 1550 – Venice, 1600/08) after Maerten de Vos (Antwerp, 1532–1603) St Jerome, 1594 burin engraving From: Sylvae Sacrae Monumenta Anachoretum, inv. 349 Dilbeek, Cultura Fonds In addition to its title page, this book contains twentynine prints of hermits. Here too, Jerome is shown by a cave, praying before a crucifix and beating his chest with a rock. He is surrounded by his various attributes. The viewer’s eye is drawn toward an attractively peaceful landscape, which contrasts sharply with the intense figure of the penitent saint. 31 Colophon Author Hildegard Van de Velde Design Anne Van den Berghe Print coordinator Eddy Moyaers Translation KBC Language Services Agency Photographic credits KBC, Erwin Donvil; Collectiebeleid Musea, Bewaarbibliotheken en Erfgoed Antwerpen, Museum Mayer van den Bergh en Museum Plantin-Moretus / Prentenkabinet; Erasmushuis, Anderlecht; Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe; Museo del Prado, Madrid; Musée Departemental de Flandre, Cassel, Jacques Quercq d’Henripret; Musea Brugge, Groeningemuseum, Lukas-Art in Flanders vzw, Hugo Maertens; KMSKA, Lukas-Art in Flanders vzw, Hugo Maertens; MSK, Gent, Lukas-Art in Flanders vzw, Hugo Maertens; Musée des Arts Anciens, Namur; Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden; Museum M, Leuven; Cultura Fonds, Dilbeek; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille. Coordination Patrick Wuytack, Dorothy De Bruyn and Dirk Desmedt Tablet app Wenke Mast www.kmska.be www.rockoxhuis.be Publishers: VZW Nicolaas Rockox Museum, Keizerstraat 12, 2000 Antwerp and KMSKA, Lange Kievitstraat 111–113 bus 100, 2018 Antwerp Jan van Hemessen, St Jerome as a Monk © Erwin Donvil, KBC www.rockoxhuis.be www.kmska.be www.hetguldencabinet.be