The Penitent St. Jerome(Alessandro Allori)
Placed on a rock ledge, a crucifix signifies man’s redemption, while the skull and hourglass denote his mortality. Hiding beneath the rock ledge is a dragon which represents sin. In the foreground are two masks, one of which is inscribed with the word ‘Vanitas’ and , like the ecclesiastical garments, symbolises worldly pursuits. Behind the Saint, in a dark grotto, St. Jerome’s lion (symbolic of the Resurreciton) stands facing an altar elaborately dressed with a cloth and chalice which represent th eSacrament. Directly behind it, there is an altar piece depicting the ‘Adoration of the Shepherds’, whose composition may possibly derive from that of a northern painter. To the left of the grotto, there is an elaborate meandering landscape through which figures move towards a chapel on a small hillside.
The blue ribbon which encircles the rock ledge upon which the Saint kneels to the Crucifix above is inscribed with the words: I have m editated upon you through all my years in the bitterness of my life’. This inscription, together with that beneath the artist’s signiture (This is the best I can paint, I can do no better emphasises the devotional aspect of the picture, painted significantly in the year before Allori’s death, and testifies to his belief that this painting, the ‘summa of his art, is the finest offering he can ever make.