Icon with St Jerome
- Gallery: Room 46
- Made in: Crete; Venice (city)
- Date: 1400-1450
- Object type: icon
- Materials: cypress wood; gesso; gold
- Museum number: 1994,0501.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is Icon with St Jerome, an egg tempera painting with gold leaf on cypress wood from Crete. The icon shows St Jerome, an elderly cardinal in a red hooded cloak, seated on a large wooden throne. He gently removes a thorn from the paw of a reclining lion, a moment drawn from medieval hagiographic stories.
Notice the golden gilding used to highlight his garments and the lectern beside him. An open book lies on the lectern, inscribed in Latin with words attributed to St Jerome himself: Overcome wrath through patience; love the knowledge of the Scriptures and you will not love the sin of the flesh.
The rocky landscape behind the saint is sparsely detailed, with a small three-aisled basilica visible on the right. The style of the icon reflects a blend of late Gothic and Byzantine influences, and its strong connection to Cretan art from the 15th century has been recently established. This piece carries the legacy of both Western and Eastern traditions in Christian iconography.
See it in person
Icon with St Jerome is on display in Room 46 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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