Old Painting, New Setting

A new artist has joined the stable of painters, sculptors and photographers represented in the collection of the University of Maryland Art Gallery—though, with a birth date in the 17^th century, they’re not exactly new, and their uncredited work keeps their identity a mystery. 

In January, the gallery acquired a roughly 400-year-old portrait of St. Jerome, a 4th-century cardinal best known for translating the Bible into Latin; the painting is the first Old Master painting in the gallery’s collection, marking an important expansion of its largely modern and contemporary holdings.

“We try as best we can to procure works of art that can give students an opportunity to engage in the object-based scholarship that’s the cornerstone of museum work,” said Taras W. Matla, director and chief curator of the UMD Art Gallery. “One of the major things on my to-do list has been trying to procure our first Old Master painting.”

This winter, Matla was monitoring auctions when he noticed a promising piece for sale at Weschler’s, based in Rockville, Md. The portrait of St. Jerome was being offered at a bargain, largely because it was by an unattributed artist: just under $1,000. Matla used funds provided by longtime UMD donor and art collector Charlie Reiher to snap up the artwork. 

The market for Old Master paintings—defined as pieces created by skilled European artists working before 1800—is more approachable than one might think, said Aneta Georgievska-Shine, UMD senior lecturer in Renaissance and Baroque art. Paintings by Leonardo da Vinci or Rembrandt go for eye-watering prices at auction (Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is widely believed to be the buyer behind the 2017 $450 million sale of Leonardo’s “Salvator Mundi”), but works by less significant artists exist in a liminal area: not important enough to be of interest to museums, and not appealing to private collectors who want to buy big-name artists. 

“It’s a good opportunity for a teaching gallery to acquire them,” said Georgievska-Shine.

The painting in the UMD Art Gallery shows St. Jerome holding open a book—presumably his own translation of the Bible—and a crucifix, as if offering his final work to Christ, said Matla. Around his head is a faint halo, representing his sainthood. 

“It’s competent,” said Georgievska-Shine, noting that it was clearly painted by someone with formal artistic training. “It has relatively good understanding of the head and the anatomy of the body, but it doesn’t have the confidence of line, form or gesture to be called a first-rate painting.”

The painting is of Northern Italian origin, agreed Georgievska-Shine and Matla. St. Jerome was a popular subject of artwork there, plus the region was more conservative in its artistic taste; the classical Renaissance style of the mountainous background scenery in the work points to a more old-fashioned mode of painting that would have continued to be popular in Venice or Milan. 

The painting offers students opportunities to work on its conservation and research its origins, said Matla. 

St. Jerome is an apt subject for a painting meant to inspire research—he’s the patron saint of students, archivists, librarians and translators. “Jerome is a nice saint to have, if you have to have a saint,” said Georgievska-Shine.