Visioen van de heilige Hieronymus 1642

Curator: Up next, we have "Vision of Saint Jerome," a print created in 1642 by Giovanni Battista Pasqualini. What are your immediate thoughts? Editor: It strikes me as quite dramatic. The sharp contrast between light and shadow gives it an almost dreamlike, uneasy quality. Saint Jerome looks utterly stricken, caught in a moment of intense revelation. It also appears, dare I say it, just a little funny. Curator: Well, engravings are quite masterful in the baroque style, creating an array of tonalities with simple lines and curves. I would suggest we consider some of the common images present. Jerome is sprawled out, looking overwhelmed and covering his eyes with his left hand, next to his scriptures and skull and what could be a mountain outcrop with a blasted tree that morphs into clouds that carry an angel who is blowing the trumpet to herald the Last Judgment, a call to recognize the moment of divine reckoning! Editor: Yes, those baroque artists sure loved a good bit of drama and iconography. You know what fascinates me most about this image, however? It’s how Jerome, even in his state of shock and awe, remains incredibly human. There's a vulnerability there in his body language, which is a departure from the stoic depictions of saints you often see, perhaps a realistic turn from what many were accustomed to. I am used to an old bearded man, but this Jerome appears far younger, with a fuller head of hair. Curator: Definitely! I agree. Even a saint, in a moment of truth, might just want to curl up in a ball. The artist definitely conveys the weight of that spiritual encounter, of being confronted with your own mortality and the divine will. It gives the image such depth. Editor: For me, that very human depiction is precisely what transcends its time. Pasqualini captured that raw emotion of facing something immense and overwhelming, something so far beyond yourself, but he makes it seem real in an earthly form, and, although a statement piece of the Baroque style, still relatable in modern times. Curator: A perspective I can certainly appreciate. Thank you!