Baroque Blog Post

Saint Jerome Writing by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1605-1606)



    This Baroque-era piece by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio depicts Saint Jerome leaned over a script in his study, deep in concentration. The dark shading and highly detailed features of Saint Jerome are characteristic of the Baroque style of painting from the time. Saint Jerome is a Catholic saint from the 300s that had a large impact on the Latin translation of the Bible as well as church doctrine at the time.
    
    I believe that this painting can definitely be seen as awe inspiring. The painting is more or less split into two main parts. There is a dark portion containing a skull, and an illuminated portion containing Saint Jerome and his holy scripture. The dark and skull represents eventual death, and the lighter parts of the painting represent things that live on without dying. The scripture will never die, and Saint Jerome has an eternal soul. The awe inspiring part of this is Saint Jerome's dedication to the eternal, and that he is willing to maintain that dedication even while struggle in face of death.

    Personally, I think this painting is beautiful and has plenty of meaning and symbolism to think over and I would love to own a copy of it myself. I think it is a very uplifting and thoughtful piece and believe it would be a very positive influence in a household.

    This piece was directly influenced by papal royalty as they are the ones who commissioned most of Caravaggio's work
Works Cited

Caravaggio, Author: “Saint Jerome Writing by Caravaggio.” Galerie Borghèse, 29 Dec. 2022, borghese.gallery/collection/paintings/saint-jerome-writing.html.

 “Continued Successes and the Murder of Tomassoni.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/biography/Caravaggio/Continued-successes-and-the-murder-of-Tomassoni.


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