St. Jerome in Mexico

painting: Tecali, Puebla

St. Jerome was a much traveled and prolific 4th century writer, polemicist and translator, his most famous work being his translation of the Bible into Latin (The Vulgate)

mural: Teabó, Yucatán (Jerome with book, pen, lion and trumpet)

As a result, Jerome is often represented in western art as one of the four Doctors of the Latin Church (along with Saints Augustine, Ambrose, and Pope Gregory I.) usually seated with a pen and book. He frequently appears with the other Doctors on the predellas of major altarpieces in colonial churches.

 

 altarpieces: San Felipe de Los Alzate, and Tupataro (Michoacan)

Jerome is frequently accompanied by a lion, in reference to the popular belief that he had tamed a lion in the wilderness by healing its paw. This story may have been conflated with the second century Roman tale of Androcles.

 

mural: Purificación Teotihuacán;                                                  altarpiece:  Mani, Yucatán

As a secretary to the pope Damasus 1 (a.d. 366 - 384) he has often been portrayed anachronistically as a cardinal, often with a red, tasseled cardinal’s hat (also the insignia of the eremitic Hieronymites or Order of St. Jerome closely associated with the Spanish Augustinians) 

Insignia of the Hieronymites

mural: Tetela del Volcán, Morelos

Because of the latter years he spent as a hermit and penitent in the desert, he is often depicted as a half-clad anchorite with a crucifix, skull and Bible in his cell or cave in the wilderness. In this role he is usually portrayed kneeling while beating his naked chest with a rock, as he contemplates the suffering Christ on the cross.

Tlacochahuaya, Oaxaca. facade statue

He is sometimes depicted with an owl, representing wisdom and scholarship, and a trumpet as a symbol of God’s Word and of Judgment Day.

Santa Mónica, Hidalgo. relief

San Jerónimo Coyula,  facade gable with penitent statue of Jerome, and lion relief

In popular Mexican art he is portrayed with at least one or several of these attributes.

Big and Little St Jerome, Yaxcopoil, Yucatán

text © 2017 Richard D. Perry.
images by the author, ©Niccolo Brooker and online sources.

see our earlier posts on popular and less well known saints as portrayed in Mexico:

St Denis; Duns Scotus; St. Peter Martyr; St Rose of Lima; San Charbel Maklouf; San Antonio Abad; St Ursula: St. Elmo; Nicholas of Tolentino;