17th century

With a long beard and curling locks, a slightly disheveled Saint Jerome listens open-mouthed in astonishment as an angel overhead sounds its trumpet. Vicente Carducho drew Jerome interrupted in the act of writing, with his faithful friend and attribute the lion by his side.

Artists often showed Jerome writing, undoubtedly a common activity for the learned saint who translated the Bible into Latin. Jerome commonly appeared nearly nude, giving artists the opportunity to display his gaunt, ascetic figure. Carducho suggested the saint's lean, muscular body with brown wash and white gouache, using while radiating strokes of black chalk to describe the drapery, which nearly merges with the rocks. The artist reworked the saint's right leg several times, positioning it first forward and then further back until it rested underneath his left knee. The black chalk squaring on this drawing implies that Carducho intended this drawing as a preparatory study for a large painting, although scholars have not identified such a work.