St. Jerome 1620

Georges de la Tour painted "St. Jerome" during a time of religious and social upheaval in Europe. The artwork depicts St. Jerome in a moment of penance, holding a cross in one hand and a whip in the other. We see him as an old, frail man. The combination of the cross and the whip speaks to the dual nature of religious experience, one of devotion and one of self-inflicted suffering. Jerome's asceticism is a performance of piety, reflecting the era's intense focus on religious devotion as a means of personal and social redemption. What does it mean to see a Saint depicted in such a raw, human way? La Tour invites us to consider the psychological and emotional dimensions of faith, as he navigates the tensions between spiritual aspiration and earthly realities.