# Saint Jerome as Scholar

**El Greco** (Spanish, 1541–1614)  
ca. 1610  
Oil on canvas  
42 1/2 x 35 1/16 in. (108 x 89 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975.1.146. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/459088).

## About this work

Saint Jerome, the fourth-century scholar who translated the Bible into Latin, sits with his long white beard flowing over the scarlet robes of a cardinal, one hand on the pages of a book. Although the office did not exist in his lifetime, Jerome was traditionally shown as a cardinal in honour of his service to the papacy. El Greco and his workshop painted this composition several times; this late version shows the elongated face and hands and the quick, broken brushwork of his final years.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

El Greco painted this in about 1610, aged about 59. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [El Greco](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/el-greco)

Spanish, 1541–1614; born in Iráklion (Candia); died in Toledo

El Greco, “the Greek”, was born in Crete and trained in the Byzantine icon tradition before studying Venetian painting and working in Rome. From 1577 he lived in Toledo, where his first major commission was the high altarpiece of Santo Domingo el Antiguo, to which The Assumption of the Virgin belongs. His mature style, with elongated figures, flickering light and acid colour, found few imitators in his time but was rediscovered with enthusiasm by modern painters.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Paintings
- The artist was about 59
- Real size: about 43 × 35 in (108 × 89 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 20 × 30 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 16th century
- Subjects: Men, Saint Jerome
- Colour: red
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1259.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1259/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/saint-jerome-as-scholar-met-459088).