The Vision of St Jerome
by MEI, Bernardino, Oil on canvas, 167 x 187 cm
This painting combines two different visions of St Jerome. The first, of an angel blowing a trumpet in Jerome’s ear, apparently took place while he was retiring as a hermit in the desert and illustrates the dream in which he heard the trumpets of the Last Judgment; an episode particularly popular in Baroque painting. The second, the flagellation of St Jerome by angels, relates to the dream in which the saint saw himself being punished by the angels of God for studying classical literature more than the Bible.