Skip to Content
Today Open today 10–11 members | 11–8 public

The Temptation of Saint Jerome

A work made of oil on panel.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

Image actions

  • A work made of oil on panel.

Date:

1541/48

Artist:

Giorgio Vasari
Italian, 1511-1574

About this artwork

Best known for his Lives of the Artists, a monumental compendium of biographies, Giorgio Vasari was a successful architect and a prolific painter for the Medici dukes of Florence. As a learned artist, he imparted an allegorical element to this frequently depicted episode from the life of Saint Jerome. The saint—a scholar, translator of the Bible, and advocate of monasticism—vividly described the tempting visions that assailed him when he retreated to the desert to meditate. In this painting, Jerome contemplates a crucifix; his visions are personified as Venus, the goddess of love, accompanied by cupids. Although Venus seems to flee, one of the troublesome cupids still aims his arrow at the saint. The work is unfinished: the black-chalk grid, used as aid in enlarging and transferring the preparatory drawing onto the panel, is still visible through the initial thinly applied paint layers.

Status

On View, Gallery 205

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist

Giorgio Vasari

Title

The Temptation of Saint Jerome

Place

Italy (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1541–1548

Medium

Oil on panel

Dimensions

166.5 × 121.9 cm (65 1/2 × 48 in.)

Credit Line

Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection

Reference Number

1964.64

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/110242/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share