Head of St Jerome

Cima da Conegliano (circa 1459 - circa 1517)

British Museum

circa 1496 - 1498

The Venetian master Cima painted a large altarpiece of the Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome and Louis of Toulouse for the church of Santa Chiara on the island of Murano, outside of Venice around 1496-98. This drawing is a study for the head of St. Jerome in this painting and is exactly the same size as the finished head which suggests that it may have served as a guide during the completion of the picture. Since it is unmarked by a stylus or by pricking, it cannot have been used as a cartoon in the usual sense.

• Medium: brush drawing in brown ink, heightened with white on blue paper
• Dimensions: 25.2 x 12cm
• Art Fund Grant: £273 ( Total: £273)
• ArtFunded in: 1936

Provenance

Collection of Sunderland from Buonfiglio (Bologna); Sagredo family (Venice), Robert Udney (English consul); J P Heseltine, Henry Oppenheimer.

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