Elisabetta Sirani, 1638 Bologna – 1665 ebenda, zugeschrieben

SAINT HIERONYMUS IN PRAYER Oil on canvas. Doubled. 110 x 85 cm. Unframed. Accompanied by an expertise with comparative examples by Alessandro Delpriori, Matelica, in copy. The saint as a hermit in the wasteland under the evening sky in front of a flat boulder, as if it were an altar, on which stands a small cross with the inscription "INRI", as well as an open book, apparently a Bible or a missal, lying on a skull. He has gray-white hair, a full beard, wears a long red cloak over the back of his naked upper body, holds a rosary with his left hand, in front of which lies a stone, and grasps or strikes his chest with his right hand. He has turned his head and is gazing upwards towards the sky with the moist eyes of his expressive face, in which a fanfare can be seen in the upper left corner. High-quality painting with skillful use of light. According to Delpriori, the work is for a domestic devotion, imbued with the influence of Guido Reni (1575- 642); it is therefore possible for him that the artist is Elisabetta Sirani, one of Guido Reni's most important followers, and he assigns the painting to the 1660/65s. (14008913) (18)