Matteo di Giovanni. Saint Augustine's Vision of Saints Jerome and John the Baptist. 1476. Italy. Tempera on panel A leading Sienese painter of the late 15th century, Matteo di Giovanni knew how to combine the poetry characteristic of Sienese painting with the rationalization of space introduced in nearby Florence. This panel, a Crucifixion scene, and the Art Institute’s The Dream of Saint Jerome were part of the base, or predella, of an altarpiece made for the funerary chapel of the Placidi family of Siena; it reflects the family’s devotion to Saint Jerome. Here, as Saint Augustine sits in his


Matteo di Giovanni. Saint Augustine's Vision of Saints Jerome and John the Baptist. 1476. Italy. Tempera on panel A leading Sienese painter of the late 15th century, Matteo di Giovanni knew how to combine the poetry characteristic of Sienese painting with the rationalization of space introduced in nearby Florence. This panel, a Crucifixion scene, and the Art Institute’s The Dream of Saint Jerome were part of the base, or predella, of an altarpiece made for the funerary chapel of the Placidi family of Siena; it reflects the family’s devotion to Saint Jerome. Here, as Saint Augustine sits in his study composing a eulogy celebrating Jerome’s life, the saint appears to him in a vision accompanied by Saint John the Baptist. The Baptist tells Augustine that Jerome is to be honored as his equal. Above the narrative scenes on the predella, the center of the altarpiece, which remains in the church of San Domenico, Siena, also had a visionary subject the Virgin and Child surrounded by angels appearing to Saints Jerome and John the Baptist.


Size: 3000px × 1701px
Photo credit: © WBC ART / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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