Saint Jerome

Paudiss was originally from northern Germany. Following training in Rembrandt’s studio, he led a restless, itinerant life. The remarkable aspect of his highly individual interpretation of a given theme was an almost aggressive naturalism coupled with a personal style of chiaroscuro, which seems to lie like a fog on this picture. Here Saint Jerome is portrayed as a penitent, meditating in solitude on death and the transitoriness of earthly things. At the same time, however, he is depicted as the scholarly translator of the Bible.