Workshop of Abraham Janssens

Given to Ampleforth Abbey, Yorkshire, by James Holdforth, Mayor of Leeds, before 1830;

Taken by Fr. Laurence Burgess to Prior Park, Bath, 1830–35;

Returned to Ampleforth Abbey, Yorkshire, in 1835, since when it has remained in the collection.

London, Royal Academy, Flemish Art, 1300–1700, Winter 1953 – 1954, no. 435;

Leeds, Leeds City Art Gallery and Temple Newsam House, Church art from Catholic Yorkshire, 3 February – 3 March 1979, no. 8.

This painting is a workshop replica of a work known in several versions by Abraham Janssens, whose travels to Rome in 1598 and 1601 influenced much of his output thereafter. This monumental depiction of Saint Jerome, which was clearly favoured by a number of patrons, owes much to the heroic sculptures of Antiquity, as well as those by Michelangelo, which Janssens saw in Italy. The dramatic chiaroscuro speaks to the inspiration Janssens drew from Caravaggio, with whose work he would likewise have come into contact, and whose style was conducted to Northern Europe by a number of Janssens' fellow artists returning from Rome.

Other versions, each with slightly differing dimensions, include those in The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia;¹ in The Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest;² and those sold at Sotheby's, New York, 25 January 2017, lot 27 (for $492,500),³ and 14 October 2020, lot 140 (for $100,800).⁴

¹ Inv. no. 71.459; oil on canvas, 135.9 x 111.8 cm.; https://chrysler.emuseum.com/objects/18498/saint-jerome

² Inv. no. 731; oil on canvas, 181 x 141 cm.; https://www.mfab.hu/artworks/the-penitent-saint-jerome/

³ Oil on canvas, 190 x 149.5 cm.; https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2017/master-paintings-n09601/lot.27.html

⁴ Oil on canvas, 189.5 x 149 cm.; https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/master-paintings/abraham-janssens-the-elder-saint-jerome