Description:Originally created in c. 1555-56, this exquisite landscape print is based on a drawing by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Etched and engraved by Jan and Lucas van Duetecum on Double Eagle watermarked paper [M.244], dating the print to the late 1500s. Inscribed in the lower right: brueghel Inue | h cock excu.
According to N. Orenstein (2001), “Saint Jerome prays under a tree, bent over a book as his lion lazes behind him. The saint has turned his back on a magnificent landscape – hardly a wilderness – occupied by many minute figures and details: travelers, people with carts, a ferry drawn by horses, ships, and such. A mountainside in the middle ground is crowned by a fortress; beyond that a riverscape leads off into the distance. This is one of three prints in the Large Landscapes group with a biblical subject. Here, as with the other examples, it is not clear whether Bruegel’s original intention was to depict a religious theme. The saint seems almost an afterthought, and the figures and the title were no doubt added by the publisher” (p. 125).
Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
It is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work):
1. Bastelaer, René van. The Prints of Peter Bruegel the Elder, Catalogue Raisonné New Edition, Alan Wofsy Fine Arts: San Francisco, 1992. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 7 on pgs. 50.
2. Klein, H. Arthur. Graphic Worlds of Peter Bruegel the Elder, Dover Publications: New York, 1963. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 2 on pgs. 12-3.
3. Orenstein, Nadine M., ed. for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints, Yale University Press: New Haven, 2001. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 25 on pg. 125
4. Sellink, M. Pieter Bruegel: The Complete Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Ludion: NY, 2007. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 24 on pg. 68.
About the Framing:
Set in an Italian-style gold frame, the ribbon detailing and carved, organic elements of the moulding complements the vast landscape within the image. Decorative detail echos acanthus leaves which evoke a classical aura to the work. Completed with white, linen-wrapped mats with a matching gold inner fillet, Saint Jerome in the Desert is set behind an archival Plexiglas® cover and also features a custom-made brass plate with the artist’s name and dates mounted to the mat.
