St. Jerome Reading in an Italian Landscape

Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Rembrandt depicted Saint Jerome many times, here as a contented old man reading. The print reflects Rembrandt's great admiration for Venetian art, particularly in the landscape and buildings in the background, which were inspired by the work of Giulio (ca. 1482–after 1515) and Domenico (1500–1564) Campagnola. The marked contrast between the briefly sketched saint and the more polished areas of the print creates an initial impression of unfinish. Rembrandt's sketch for the print shows that he originally intended to darken the saint and the foreground. In the end, however, he left them blank but for the outlines in order to create an effect of bright sunlight.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art