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| Albrecht Durer, St. Jerome in His Study, 1514, dim. 24.8 x 18.8 cm |
The third mysterious engraving from the Meisterstiche opus is the engraving titled St. Jerome in His Study executed - as stated on the cartellino in the lower right corner - in 1514, the same dating that bears cryptic Melencolia I. But Durer is not to be trusted on this matter of numbers incorporated in his engravings, since he would use those numbers that would express his purpose best, not caring at least about the accuracy of dating.
For the "uninitiated" viewer, the engraving clearly represents all of the popular attributes of Hieronymus Eusebious, a Latin Church father that lived in the fourth century. His story is collected by de Voragine in The Golden Legend, describing a life of a Christian saint who first translated Bible from Greek to Latin. He was of noble descent from Dalmatia, and he was ordained as a priest in Rome, from where comes his iconography as a cardinal, since in earlier times of Christianity, the task of ordained priests was similar to cardinals'. He is particularly revered as a hermit who abandoned the mundane world in place of solitude in the desert. There he is usually portrayed as a bewildering man, beating his chest to regain the desired calmness and communion with God. As a symbol of victory of spirit over flesh, a skull is never omitted from the composition. According to de Voragine, he also saves a lion from the torment of a torn in his pawn, when he wandered in the monastery in Bethlehem, where Jerome stayed. The lion became the guardian of the ass that worked for the monks. One day, while the lion was asleep, the passing traders stole his companion. After some time of laboring the work of an ass, the lion spotted a train of merchants with an ass leading their way. The lion brought them all to monastery, where the merchants apologized for stealing and donate the half of oil they were carrying. This is the legend that supports the iconography of the lion that is typical for St. Jerome. Perhaps, also the oil that was left by the merchants is represented on the engraving by flasks on the shelf behind Jerome's back.
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a skull as a commemoration of death |
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This engraving is the second time in Meisterstiche opus, that a skull is a part of the composition. The first occurrence of a skull is on Knight, Death and Devil, signifying the year of the death of the Grand Master of the Templars, Jacques de Molay. Durer is most of the time very directly using the symbols also at their most "simple" level of apprehension. Only two engravings from the Meisterstiche contain a skull, and only two are celebrating the year of the death of a "hero". The skull simply signifies death, or commemoration of death, and the interesting question is who died in 1514, the year that Durer signed his work on cartollino of St. Jerome in His Study together with his typical trade mark signature, monogram AD?
Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519
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cartellino with the date and Durer's monogram |
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Leonardo da Vinci spent his last years in France under service of King Francois I. He was invited to live in Chateau de Cloux at Amboise, mostly to entertain the king with intelligent conversation. Strangely, Leonardo da Vinci did his last known drawing in 1514, a sketch of St. Jerome in the Desert. Remember, that this is also the date of Durer's St. Jerome in His Study. It seems like a strange coincidence, if it was not another inscription on the cartellino: AD. In simple Latin gematria is the value of AD = 1+4 = 5, which together with the date reveal completely another date, 1514+5 = 1519, the true year of Leonardo's death. This suggests, that Durer's engraving of St. Jerome could commemorate the death of Leonardo da Vinci. Furthermore, the figure seated behind the desk is iconographically St. Jerome, but more importantly, we could be also looking at Leonardo da Vinci in his room in Chateau de Cloux in Amboise. The name Leonardo is also associated with the lion ("leo") sleeping (surely an allusion to "eternal rest") on the floor. It is fascinating how simple and direct are Durer's riddles, but the lens is at first sight focused on a totally different layer of meaning, not seeing the obvious, which is obviously the best way to protect a "secret". Durer obviously relates Leonardo to St. Jerome as "a man of knowledge", a distinction common to both characters.
The image of St. Jerome from the engraving is very much resembling Leonardo's self-portrait drawing from 1512: an old man with long gray hair, bald top, long white beard ...
There is another detail to be explained - the pumpkin hanged from the wall, so obviously disturbing the iconography so carefully chosen. What does this pumpkin mean? If the Renaissance period is considered, there was only one pumpkin that was famous: Lo Zuccone.
Leonardo served as an apprentice in the workshop of master Andrea del Verrochio (1435-1488). In Verrocchio' s workshop, he possibly met aged master of Early Renaissance sculpture, Donatello (Donato di Niccol Betto Bardi, 1386-1466), with whom Verrocchio collaborated, and at the end replaced Donatello as the family artist of magnificent Medici dynasty. However, Donatello, with a devoted pupil, produced a series of marble prophets for the niches of the Florentine Campanile. The most marveled of the seven statues are prophet Habakkuk, which was better known under nickname Lo Zuccone, because of the shape of his head, and the sculpture of St. Jerome. But as already noted by Frederick Hartt1, the two identities of the historical figures have been mistakenly identified, Habakkuk is really St. Jerome.The appearance of Lo Zuccone strongly suggests the likeness with the iconography of St. Jerome, an ascetics, with only provisional clothing, just like painted by so many Renaissance artists. If this is true, then the mysterious pumpkin hanged from the ceiling of Durer's St. Jerome in His Study evokes St. Jerome, and it is also an allusion on Donatello, an Early master that preceded Leonardo. It seems that Durer records that the most important artist for Leonardo was Donatello. There is also another amusing connection with Leonardo concealed in the story of Lo Zuccone. The model for this statue was a wealthy Florentine banker Giovanni Barducci living in the Villa Barduccio with the address Via San Leonardo, Florence. Is this a shine of a saint above Leonardo's head on the engraving? At the end we have to notice that also Leonardo's head resembles the shape of the pumpkin.
It is possible that this Durer's engraving is completely dedicated to life and death of Leonardo da Vinci, one of the two "grand masters" of the Renaissance current. The second illuminati is concealed in cryptic Melencolia I.
Bibliography:
Frederick Hart, History of Renaissance Art, Thames and Hudson, 1987.
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 "Secret identity of Jerome")
