St. Jerome Hearing the Trumpet of the Last Judgment

Vicente Carducho

about 1626–1632

Black chalk with brown wash, heightened with white gouache, squared in black chalk, Chalk, Wash, Gouache

J. Paul Getty Museum

A bearded man with a halo sits writing at a desk, looking upwards towards a figure blowing a trumpet. A lion rests at his side. 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 t