Heiliger Hieronymus in der Einöde 

Curator: We're looking at a red-chalk drawing titled "Heiliger Hieronymus in der Einöde," which translates to "Saint Jerome in the Wilderness," attributed to Alessandro Magnasco, housed right here at the Städel Museum. Editor: Woah, the mood is instantly gripping—heavy, you know? Sparse, but like a whole interior world unfolding. The figure kind of melts into the paper; I can almost feel the rough texture, and it’s not a happy feel. Curator: Magnasco's rendering truly amplifies that sensation. Note the figure of Saint Jerome, rendered with nervous, almost frenetic lines. The artist captures him as an ascetic, in a pose of humility. It invites us to decode a particular theology and symbolic context. Editor: Ascetic indeed! He looks worn, almost dissolving. It's interesting—the rosary beads add a layer. They almost imprison him more than offering any comfort, and that placement, right under his bent, worried-looking face, emphasizes some psychic angst, surely? The lines surrounding him aren’t reassuring either; the drawing keeps losing definition the more I look at it. Curator: Exactly. The landscape, or the suggestion thereof, serves not as a backdrop, but as an extension of Jerome's internal struggles. It echoes with his personal quest for understanding via faith and a closeness with God—rendered stark through the absence of divine benevolence or ease. There is minimal shadow play in this piece; that absence amplifies a sense of stark reality. Editor: So true—even the implied tree is… skeletal! I find my eye is darting about trying to get a stable feel of the perspective—to find somewhere in the composition that might offer more grounding; it’s a technique Magnasco uses so compellingly, like an anxiety dream, slightly out of kilter, that makes one increasingly unsure of oneself. That touch adds so much to this depiction of Saint Jerome. The work certainly stays with you, stirring discomfort, the figure of a saint stripped bare, in torment. Curator: The psychological resonance of this seemingly simple red chalk study remains striking centuries after its creation. Through form and texture, Alessandro Magnasco confronts us with a figure grappling between earthly burdens and a desperate desire for connection to a higher ideal.