Antonello da Messina - Saint Jerome in the study (about 1475-1476)

 

Saint Jerome in the study
about 1475-1476
Oil painting on canvas (46x36,5 cm)
National Gallery, London

*******

A work that plays on our strong desire as a voyeur. The invitation to look through the open window directly into St. Jerome's studio is explicit and pleasantly accepted.

Nobody seems to notice us, but a shadow observes us on the right: the lion has noticed us.

Antonello da Messina showcases the Dutch influence: the books on the shelves, the tiles on the floor, the birds on the windowsill and the presence of light; all presences that seem to recall the paintings of Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck.

The author's biography does not allow us to reconstruct possible and eventual trips to Northern Europe but the influence that is denoted in his art demonstrates a profound knowledge of the pictorial techniques of those places.

Some historians would like Antonello da Messina to have been a direct and personal pupil of Van Eyck, learning his "secret method" and introducing it to Italy. Romantic and unlikely possibility.

Antonello undoubtedly met many Dutch painters who resided in Italy; it is more likely that he learned certain technical knowledge from them.

He certainly created influences, Giovanni Bellini himself will change his way of painting after meeting Antonello da Messina during his trip to Venice between 1475 or 1476.

Comparing artists: Bellini, Campin, Van Eyck, Patenier, Reni