# The message conveyed by the figure of Saint Jerome

The lines of force give the painting an impression of harmony and stability; nothing disturbs the saint's activity.In this composition, the painting's background is covered only by an immense black, encompassing the majority of the picture and revealing only the figure of the saint holding the skull. This background, which contains no reference to a particular place, provokes a visual pause that invites the viewer to concentrate on the work to the point of meditation.

The painting is intended to be universal, in keeping with the codes of the Counter-Reformation.Indeed, at the time, the figure of Saint Jerome was widely used, and therefore known to all.

Here, the saint is stripped of his attributes and is not explicitly linked to his story, so that the viewer can concentrate solely on the man and his message. This was a highly prized image from the Middle Ages onwards, and was used to glorify the saint on panels dedicated exclusively to him from the late 14th century onwards. The figure has both a spiritual and didactic dimension. The work shows us Jerome's internalized dilemma. It's the viewer's role to see St. Jerome's torments and to project his own uncertainties onto him, hence the interest in creating a work that has no precise temporal context, a universal work.