Vittore Crivelli (Venice 1444/9-after 1501 Fermo)

This depiction of The Penitent Saint Jerome was first published by Sir Charles Eastlake (1793-1865) in 1858, three years after he was appointed the first director of the National Gallery, London. Under his directorship, the Gallery secured an annual purchase grant of £10,000 and, to this end, Eastlake spent summers abroad, usually in the company of his wife, Elizabeth. While travelling in Le Marche, he encountered this panel in the Villa Vinci, Fermo, where Vittore Crivelli had himself settled in 1489. It was together with several other panels by the artist belonging to the dismantled altarpiece of the church of San Francesco, Monte Santo. Eastlake, however, recognized Saint Jerome to be independent to the altarpiece.

The linearity of the draftsmanship and the angular quality of figure reveal Vittore’s debt to his brother, Carlo, in whose workshop he likely spent time at the beginning of his career. The painting can be compared stylistically to Vittore’s polyptych in the church of Sant’Elpidio, Mare, which, though less refined, almost certainly postdates the present work.