PROPERTY FROM THE BENITO J. LEGARDA JR. COLLECTION

ABOUT THE WORK

Amasterfully rendered depiction of Saint Jerome / San Geronimo. The saint is known as one of the earliest Doctors of the Catholic Church, a biblical translator and monastic leader whose works profoundly affected the growth of the church in the Middle Ages. He was widely credited for translating the Bible from Aramaic into Latin. More popular depictions show Jerome fully dressed, as an abbot attended to by a lion (from whose paw he drew a thorn, thereby gaining the animal’s life-long loyalty). Here is a rare depiction of the saint as a hermit in the desert , gaunt and naked except for a loincloth, the excess folds drawn about his shoulders. He holds a stone, with which he beat his breast in penance, and a book, symbolizing his wisdom and intellectual contributions to the church. Though much of the polychromy has faded, the perfect condition of the sculpture and the sensitive carving imbue this santo with an intense spiritual emotion. Here indeed, is a portrait of a Mystic. In Luzon, the most notable edifice dedicated to Saint Jerome is the 17th -18th century church in Morong, Rizal. A similar santo, possibly by the same hand, is found in one of the lateral altars. - by Floy Quintos