Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome

Pinturicchio painted this panel around 1480, although some sources date it to 1481. The subject is unusual: the Virgin holds the Child, who writes on a book, a reference to his role within the Holy Scriptures. On the right, Saint Jerome, recognisable by his cardinal's dress, sets another book down on the marble throne where Mary sits; the book is one of his traditional attributes, associated with learning. The Christ Child wears a pearl-trimmed coif, a detail that also appears in an earlier work by the painter, the Crucifixion between Saints Jerome and Christopher. Later, Pinturicchio gave up this kind of headwear in favour of loose, curly hair. In the background an open landscape unfolds, a common feature of Umbrian painting of the period, which helps place the picture in its artistic setting.

Painter

Pinturicchio

Date

1480

Medium

oil paint, panel

Dimensions

50 × 38 cm

Museum

Gemäldegalerie Berlin, Berlin

Genre

religious art

Depicts

boy, Mary, Jerome, woman, mother, Christ Child

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