Francesco Botticini, 'Saint Jerome in Penitence with Saints and Donors', about 1490

This is the central panel of the S. Gerolamo Altarpiece, one of the most important works of the Florentine painter Francesco Botticini, who was an exact contemporary of Sandro Botticelli. It is thought that Botticini trained in the workshops of some of the leading painters in Renaissance Florence, including that of Andrea del Verrocchio, before establishing himself as a supplier of devotional paintings and altarpieces.

Sir Charles Eastlake, first Director of the National Gallery, acquired this altarpiece during his first visit to Italy in 1855 – it was among the very first early Italian paintings to arrive at the Gallery. It once stood on an altar in the church of S. Gerolamo in Fiesole, hence its name, and Saint Jerome (Gerolamo or Girolamo in Italian) is prominently depicted in the separately framed image at the centre. Jerome, a celebrated fourth-century theologian, is best known for his translation of the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek into Latin. He is shown here clutching the stone that, according to the Golden Legend, he struck against his chest to help him resist temptation.

During the fifteenth century, a cult dedicated to Saint Jerome found many followers, leading to the establishment of numerous religious houses across the Italian Peninsula. The church of S. Gerolamo in Fiesole was the regional centre of the Hieronymites, and was under the patronage of the Medici, who also owned an important villa nearby. The two figures kneeling on either side of Saint Jerome are not members of the Medici family, however. The Florentine patrician Girolamo di Piero di Cardinale Rucellai appears on the left (his circular marble tomb, not unlike the one depicted in front of him here, can still be seen in the church). His young son appears opposite him. Their coats of arms also appear on either end of the predella panel below. It is not coincidental that Girolamo was devoted to the saint with whom he shared his name. He possibly even chose the church out of reverence for his name saint, whose eremitical life and profound learning may have inspired him.

Thanks to the inscriptions at the base of the framed image of Saint Jerome, we can identify the four saints surrounding him: Saints Damasus and Eusebius appear on the left, with Saints Paula and Eustochium on the right. All four were contemporaries of Saint Jerome and corresponded with him. Paula and her daughter Eustochium received spiritual guidance from Jerome and emulated his life as a hermit. This is also true of Pope Damasus, who appointed Jerome as his secretary and supported the production of Jerome’s translation of the Bible. There are several saints called Eusebius, but the figure here is most likely Eusebius of Cremona, a disciple of Jerome who travelled with him to the Holy Land, where they encountered Paula and Eustochium. The angels hovering above them in the sky play musical instruments, the sound of which the worshipper is encouraged to imagine.