Description
Saint Jerome Writing (Valletta) is the painting Caravaggio made on Malta in 1607 or 1608: the old, bald saint, bare to the waist with a red cloak across his lap, sits on a bed and writes at a table that holds a skull, a stone and a candle. The original, oil on canvas, is 112 cm high and 157 cm wide and hangs in the Oratory of St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta. Our painter paints it for you by hand in oil on canvas in 8 landscape sizes, from 53 x 38 to 180 x 130 cm, or to a size you choose; before it is sent, you see the finished painting in a photograph.
| Title: | Saint Jerome Writing (Valletta) |
| Other titles: | San Girolamo scrivente (La Valletta) · Der heilige Hieronymus beim Schreiben (Valletta) |
| Painter: | Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) |
| Year painted: | 1607 or 1608 |
| Original size: | 112 cm x 157 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Baroque, tenebrism |
| Located at: | Oratory of St John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Saint Jerome Writing (Valletta) – Caravaggio
What can you see in the Valletta Saint Jerome?
The canvas is wide and the scene is plain. An old man with a bald head sits on the edge of a bed drawn up to a table, writing with a pen. His upper body is bare, and a red cloak falls across his lap.
On the table in front of him there are three objects: a skull, a stone and a candle. The room around them is dark, and the light picks out above all the saint’s head, shoulders and arm.
On the wall to the left hangs his cardinal’s hat, and on the right a crucifix leans. At the lower right is the coat of arms of Ippolito Malaspina, the knight who commissioned the work.
Who was Saint Jerome, and why is he writing?
The Church honours Jerome as the translator of the Bible, and this is the work Caravaggio shows him doing: the saint is not reading or praying, he is writing.
Wikipedia finds the subject oddly unwarlike for a patron who lived to fight the Turks. But Ippolito Malaspina was also a commissioner for the poor, orphans and widows, and the painting may stress that side of his work, along with the asceticism of the Order.
The skull on the table is an old reminder that life is short. The same object appears in Saint Francis in Meditation, where Francis kneels in the dark in his brown habit, holding a skull and gazing at it.
Why does this painting matter so much?
Caravaggio reached Malta on 12 July 1607 from Naples, where he had fled after killing a man in a brawl in Rome. His biographers think that by joining the Knights of Saint John he hoped for protection and help towards a papal pardon.
The Grand Master, Alof de Wignacourt, wanted a famed painter to raise the standing of his Order and its capital. Caravaggio painted him in full armour: that is the Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt and his Page, in which a young page carries the Grand Master’s plumed helmet.
The patron, Malaspina, was Prior of the Order in Naples and close to Caravaggio’s circle: a relative by marriage of Ottavio Costa, a friend of the Giustiniani brothers and a cousin of Giovanni Andrea Doria, who had once sheltered the painter. He may even have had himself shown as the saint. That made it a very important commission for the artist; the English Wikipedia article, written in English, has more.
Where is the original, and what happened to it?
The original is kept in the Oratory of St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta’s capital.
In December 1984 it was stolen from the Co-Cathedral: the thieves cut the canvas out of its frame. Two years later, after many telephone negotiations with Fr. Marius J. Zerafa, then Director of Museums in Malta and Gozo, the painting was recovered. It had been damaged and was restored before it went back on display.
The theft and recovery are the subject of The Caravaggio Heist, a 2021 episode of the PBS series Secrets of the Dead. In 2022 the Central Bank of Malta issued two 3 euro coins showing a section of the painting.
The Valletta Saint Jerome or another Caravaggio?
This canvas painting is for anyone who likes quiet, concentrated scenes: one man, a few objects and work done beside a candle.
Caravaggio had painted the same saint earlier in Rome: Saint Jerome Writing in the Galleria Borghese. There Jerome reads and stretches his pen arm across the whole table, with the skull resting on a pile of books; in Valletta he sits on the bed among candle, stone, crucifix and hat, with his patron’s coat of arms in the corner.
From the same years comes the Portrait of Fra Antonio Martelli, showing an elderly knight in black with the Order’s white eight-pointed cross on his chest and a rosary in his hands. You will find the famous Caravaggio paintings we paint for you on our Caravaggio page.
How does our painter paint the Valletta Saint Jerome?
We paint the Valletta Saint Jerome to your order, in oil paints on canvas, layer upon layer. First the painter covers the canvas with a dark tone, then sketches the table, the bed and the saint’s body in thin lines,
Then he builds the light: the old skin of the shoulders and arms gets soft transitions, the red cloak deep folds, and skull, stone and candle each their own surface.
As a Caravaggio reproduction made by hand, it carries brushmarks on its surface that no print can imitate, and its dark passages stay deep and warm. An oil painting reproduction like this changes with the light in the room: calm by day, while in the evening the saint’s head and red cloak step out of the dark.
Which size suits your wall?
The short answer: 110 x 80 or 125 x 90 cm for most living rooms and offices, the sizes from 53 x 38 to 90 x 62 cm for a small wall, and 160 x 115 or 180 x 130 cm for a large one.
The Valletta Saint Jerome comes in 8 landscape sizes (width x height): 53 x 38, 60 x 42, 80 x 55, 90 x 62, 110 x 80, 125 x 90, 160 x 115 and 180 x 130 cm. The closest to the original is 160 x 115 cm, which is 3 cm wider and 3 cm taller.
The scene runs horizontally from the hat on the left to the crucifix on the right, so it wants a broad wall: above a sofa, a sideboard or a desk. As a painting for the living room, 125 x 90 cm above the sofa is a good choice, since you see the writing hand from the doorway.
Can I choose my own size and a frame?
Of course. For a different ratio we adapt the composition so that the hat on the left, the crucifix on the right and the coat of arms in the corner all stay in. Tell us the width and height you would like, and we will give you a price and a time frame.
We send the Valletta Saint Jerome rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or ready framed. Our workshop in Slovenia stretches and frames the saint before he travels. You choose the frame in our 3D app, which is only for choosing a frame; seeing the saint on your own wall is a separate service.
When and how will the painting reach you?
We start as soon as you confirm the order, and the Valletta Saint Jerome ships within 15 to 45 working days. Before that you receive a photograph of the finished painting, and if needed we touch it up. Deliveries within Slovenia and the rest of the EU travel without customs duty, and our returns policy covers every order.
The writing saint makes a fine gift for someone who writes, translates or reads a lot. Should the recipient prefer to pick the size, a wall art voucher lets them do so.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original on view?
In the Oratory of St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta.
What is the saint doing in the painting?
He sits on a bed writing at a table; the Church honours him as the translator of the Bible.
Is this a print?
No. Every Valletta Saint Jerome we make is a hand-painted copy, brushed in oil on canvas.
What are the dimensions of the original?
It is 112 cm high and 157 cm wide; our closest size is 160 x 115 cm.
When was it painted?
In 1607 or 1608 on Malta, soon after Caravaggio arrived on the island.
Does it suit a bedroom?
Better a study, a library or a living room: the scene is calm but serious, with a skull on the table.
Can you paint it in another size?
Yes. Give us the width and height, and we will send a price and a date.
How long will I wait for it?
15 to 45 working days; before dispatch you see a photograph of your finished Saint Jerome.
- Subject: the old, bald Saint Jerome, a red cloak over his lap, writes at a table set with a skull, a stone and a candle.
- Original: 1607 or 1608, oil on canvas, 112 x 157 cm, Oratory of St John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta.
- Ours: hand-painted in oil on canvas, 8 landscape sizes between 53 x 38 and 180 x 130 cm, or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: in 1984 the canvas was cut from its frame and stolen; it came back two years later and was restored.
