Jaume Ferrer, Saint Jerome, Saint Martin of Tours, Saint Sebastian and the Calvary

Jaume Ferrer - Retaule de sant Jeroni, sant Martí i sant Sebastià - Cap a 1450
 

Jaume Ferrer, Saint Jerome, Saint Martin of Tours, Saint Sebastian and the Calvary

 

Jaume Ferrer, Saint Jerome, Saint Martin of Tours, Saint Sebastian and the Calvary

The central compartment of this altarpiece is presided by Saint Jerome, dressed as a Cardinal, in his office, surrounded by books and writing instruments.  Saint Jerome is a writer and translator of the Bible into Latin, the Vulgata, and he appears in his working environment.  As a writer, on the left, there appears his Epistles, and as a translator, on the right, the Bible.

On other occasions, we can see the figure of a penitent Saint Jerome, as in the altarpiece that the Museu Nacional conserves, the work of the Master of Seu d’Urgell. In this case, even though the setting in which it is represented is the desert where he went to meditate and do penitence and he isn’t wearing Cardinal’s clothing, he continues to be surrounded by books, fitting in with his condition of writer and translator.

 

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