St. Jerome in the Desert (Bellini, Washington)

St.Jerome in the Desert
Artist	Giovanni Bellini
Year	1505
Medium	oil on canvas
Dimensions	49 cm × 39 cm (19 in × 15 in)
Location	National Gallery of Art, Washington

St. Jerome in the Desert is a 1505 oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian Renaissance master Giovanni Bellini, now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Little remains of the signature on the first rock in the left foreground, but it has been confirmed as genuine during restoration and can be reconstructed as "[Johannes Bellinu]s. 1505". This is problematic, since the work's general style is linked to fashions no later than 1490, whereas Bellini's style of figures and landscapes had already begun to be influenced by Giorgione by 1500, with the backgrounds more fused and unified in terms of atmosphere. The composition makes it more analogous to his earlier works, such as the c. 1480 St. Jerome in the Desert. The Washington work may have been a collaboration, a work completed by a pupil in Bellini's studio or left incomplete and only finished by Bellini himself much later.

Saint Jerome is shown reading in the desert, referring to his life as a hermit and as the producer of the Vulgate Bible. A lizard, a squirrel and hare appear among the rocks, whilst in the distance are a ruined Roman bridge and series of arches along with a walled city. In the centre background is another city on an island or peninsula in the sea. The fig tree, bare tree and crumbled rocks are all theological symbols. The upper left part of the ruins and other more stiffly painted parts of the background were probably produced by Bellini's studio.