17th Century follower of Joos van Cleve

The actual painting is a little deeper in tone than the catalogue illustration suggests. The canvas is relined (glue). The paint surface seems to be in good condition. Little frame abrasion can be seen along all edges, which have been retouched. A larger repaired damage of approx. 5 cm. can be seen in the centre left, next to the saint's arm. The paint surface is under a clear varnish and has a somewhat coarse craquelure pattern. Inspection under ultra violet light reveals the retouchings as mentioned above, and some additional small retouchings near his head and shoulder and in the bookstand. Offered in an ebonised black wooden frame, a few tiny chips. (ML)
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A 17th Century copy after Joos van Cleve's depiction of Saint Jerome, of which an exceptionally large number of variants and replicas originated in the artist's studio and circle.¹ The composition was not strictly of Van Cleve's own invention, but was based on Albrecht Dürer's Saint Jerome, painted in 1521 for Ruy Fernández de Almeida, Ambassador of King John III of Portugal, now in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon.

1. See M.J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, vol IX (part I), Leiden 1972, pp. 31, 58, under nos. 39 and 40, reproduced plate 57.