Focus on this artwork and discuss the abstract.
Saint Jerome in His Study is an oil painting on panel no larger than an oversized postcard attributed to the workshop of the early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck and is currently in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.  Purchased in 1925 by museum director Dr. W.R. Valentiner, the small Flemish painting at that time was attributed to Petrus Christus.  The painting depicts St. Jerome, the 4th-century translator of the Bible, reading in his study, wearing a cardinal's dress and hat.  He is surrounded by objects exemplyfying late medieval intellectual life and accompanied by the pet lion that is his common attribute.
hat Detroit Petrus Christus Detroit Institute of Arts St. Jerome Jan van Eyck Dr. W.R. Valentiner oil painting Jerome early Netherlandish Saint Jerome