Saint Jerome in His Study (Ghirlandaio)

Saint Jerome in His Study is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Ghirlandaio, executed in 1480 and located in the church of Ognissanti, Florence.

While Botticelli adopted a more expressive composition in his Saint Augustine (inspired by Andrea del Castagno's works), Ghirlandaio created a more serene and conventional figure, concentrating instead on the still life of the objects exposed on the writing desk and the shelves behind Jerome.

In this, he was perhaps inspired by northern European models, such as Jan van Eyck's Saint Jerome in His Study which was in the collections of Lorenzo de' Medici.

On the writing desk is the date (MCCCCLXXX), as well as a sealed letter, glasses, two inkwells (with drops of ink near them), scissors and a candle holder.

The objects on the shelves include a cardinal hat, two pharmacist vases, a cylindrical case, a necklace, a purse, some fruit, two transparent glass bottles and an hourglass.