Saint Jerome in Meditation 1606

Caravaggio’s Saint Jerome in Meditation is an oil on canvas that captures the saint in a moment of deep contemplation. Painted during the Counter-Reformation, this work reflects the era’s emphasis on personal piety and the mortality of human existence. Caravaggio, known for his dramatic realism, strips away the grandeur often associated with religious figures. Instead, we are presented with Jerome as an elderly, almost frail man, deeply engrossed in thought. The skull, a traditional symbol of mortality, is placed beside him. Jerome's wrinkled skin and weary eyes, rendered with raw honesty, remind us of the inevitable decline of the physical body. Caravaggio offers us a vision of spirituality rooted in the body, a kind of embodied cognition of the soul. The emotional intensity of this piece invites us to meditate on our own existence and ponder the eternal questions that have haunted humanity for centuries.