The Last Communion of St. Jerome 1592

Agostino Carracci’s “The Last Communion of St. Jerome,” now in Bologna’s Pinacoteca Nazionale, presents a rich scene centered on the act of communion, framed by classical architecture and dynamic figures. The visual experience is dominated by a composition that balances earthly solemnity with heavenly ascent. The artwork's structure is built upon contrasts: the pallid, aged St. Jerome receives the sacrament, as an angel descends, disrupting the scene's spatial logic. Carracci uses these elements to explore the semiotics of religious ritual. Light and shadow sculpt the figures, drawing our attention to the emotional exchange between the priest and St. Jerome, while the cherubic figures above introduce a sense of the sublime. Carracci destabilizes the conventional portrayal of the saint's death by engaging with Mannerist traditions, creating a space where the earthly and divine intersect in an ambiguous relationship. The composition, with its blend of realism and idealized forms, invites ongoing interpretation.