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Saint Augustine's Vision of Saints Jerome and John the Baptist

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

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  • A work made of tempera on panel.

Date:

1476

Artist:

Matteo di Giovanni
Italian, c. 1430–1495

About this artwork

This painting and its companion, The Dream of Saint Jerome, depict scenes from the life of Saint Jerome, the scholar and hermit credited with translating the Bible into Latin from Hebrew so that more people could read it. The first painting shows Jerome’s dream of being punished by a heavenly council for preferring ancient Greek and Roman texts to the Christian Bible. In the second painting, Saint Augustine sits at his desk composing a eulogy for Jerome when he is interrupted by a vision of the scholar-saint accompanied by John the Baptist, who praises Jerome as his equal. Matteo di Giovanni hinted at this connection in The Dream of St. Jerome by including a scene of baptism in the archway above Jerome’s head. Such cross-references between artworks and texts are a hallmark of 15th-century Italian painting and served to engage the viewer in active, contemplative looking.

Status

On View, Gallery 204

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist

Matteo di Giovanni

Title

Saint Augustine's Vision of Saints Jerome and John the Baptist

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.

1476

Medium

Tempera on panel

Dimensions

37.6 × 66.1 cm (14 3/4 × 26 in.); Painted surface: 36 × 64.4 cm (14 1/8 × 25 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection

Reference Number

1933.1019

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.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/16183/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.

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