Provenance
Sir Thomas Gage Saunders Sebright, 8th bt. [1802-1864], Beechwood Park, Hertfordshire, by 1856;[1] by descent to Sir Giles Edward Sebright, 13th bt. [1896-1954], Beechwood Park; (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 2 July 1937, no. 139, as Venetian School); purchased by (Volterra, Florence) for (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, Florence); sold October 1937 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[2] gift 1939 to NGA.
[1] Gustav Friedrich Waagen, in _Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain...Visited in 1854 and 1856..._, London, 1857: 327, describes in Beechwood "a landscape, with St. Jerome on the right, who, with a stone in his left hand, is doing penance before a small crucifix fastened high upon a tree..." that he lists as "Raphael (?)" but which he concludes "[reminds] me most of Timoteo Viti." The provenance sometimes given for the panel, as having been in the "collection of Count B. Pinamonte, Ferrara," comes from the 1937 bill of sale between Contini Bonacossi and the Kress Foundation (see note 2). According to Sir Ellis Waterhouse, this provenance is spurious (see note in Fern Rusk Shapley's hand, in NGA curatorial files).
[2] The bill of sale from Contini Bonacossi to the Kress Foundation, for this and several other paintings, is dated 20 October 1937 (copy in NGA curatorial files). See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1849.
Accession Number
1939.1.280
Medium
tempera on poplar panel
Dimensions
overall: 60 x 41.9 cm (23 5/8 x 16 1/2 in.) | framed: 73.7 x 55.3 x 9.8 cm (29 x 21 3/4 x 3 7/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Samuel H. Kress Collection
Tags
Painting Renaissance (1400–1599) Tempera Panel Painting
Background & Context
Background Story
This painting of Saint Jerome in the Wilderness is attributed to a Follower of Pietro Perugino (c. 1446-1523), the Italian painter known for the serene, devotional manner that makes him one of the most important painters of the Umbrian Renaissance. Saint Jerome in the wilderness was a popular subject in the Renaissance, representing the saint's penitential retreat, and Perugino produced versions of the subject in his serene, devotional manner. The c. 1490/1500 date places this in the period when Perugino was the most influential painter in Umbria, and the follower's version demonstrates how Perugino's serene, devotional manner was adopted and adapted by his followers, who helped spread his influence throughout Umbria and beyond.
Cultural Impact
Saint Jerome in the Wilderness is important in the history of Italian Renaissance painting because it demonstrates how Perugino's serene, devotional manner was adopted by his followers in Umbria. Perugino's manner—combining serene devotional feeling with the precisely observed landscape that is his most distinctive contribution—was enormously influential in Umbria, and the c. 1490/1500 painting shows how this manner was adopted by followers who helped spread Perugino's influence throughout Umbria and beyond.
Why It Matters
Saint Jerome in the Wilderness by a Follower of Perugino: the penitential saint rendered in the serene, devotional manner of one of the most important painters of the Umbrian Renaissance. The c. 1490/1500 painting shows how Perugino's serene devotional manner and precisely observed landscape were adopted by his followers in Umbria.
