St. Jerome Reading 1587 - 1617

Curator: Isaac Oliver created this delicate drawing of "St. Jerome Reading" sometime between 1587 and 1617. It's currently housed here at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: Wow, first impressions? Serenity, maybe? There's this real sense of quietude emanating from this old scholar, so absorbed in his text. The soft washes and the delicate line work – it’s just captivating. Curator: Absolutely. It’s insightful to consider that St. Jerome's image has been culturally constructed and often politicized. Here we see him at his scholarly best—reading. Yet St. Jerome also has profound significance relating to gendered and racial power dynamics, given his translation work in producing the Latin Vulgate Bible, so foundational in Western society. Editor: You're right, there's an undeniable power dynamic here, too, even in his apparent solitude. An hourglass sits nearby, acting as a symbol of mortality, the passing of time. This is all contrasted against the Saint's central position in relation to the text, so present even as he is situated in contemplation. Curator: The placement of the hourglass, then, is deeply intentional. Consider the impact of this simple scene on ideas of scholarship, class, race, and religion at the time the work was created, during shifting relations between the aristocracy and the working class, but well before widespread printing practices. Editor: Thinking about the work in relation to our own time, with ever increasing modes of knowledge sharing, I get caught on the details, like the way the pen strokes create these layers of shadow, the thoughtful use of negative space. Oliver's truly captured a man in deep thought here. There is so much light throughout! Curator: Oliver masterfully combines pen and charcoal, creating textures that bring forth multiple dimensions to Jerome, not simply as an old man but also as a cultural icon whose writing profoundly impacts us even today. Editor: Right? Art, it seems, really does immortalize us. I walk away wondering: what thoughts have shaped the lives and writing of great thinkers? What would St. Jerome and Isaac Oliver make of contemporary life, the speed, volume, and noise? Curator: An intriguing question to be sure. Examining artwork in relation to history pushes us to acknowledge their continuing impact in culture today.