The Last Communion of Saint Jerome (Domenichino)
The Last Communion of St. Jerome is a 1614 oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian artist Domenichino. It was commissioned for the church of San Girolamo della Carità in Rome in 1612 and is now in the Pinacoteca Vaticana. The composition is very similar to a painting of the same subject by Agostino Carracci. Domenichino's rival, Giovanni Lanfranco, accused Domenichino of plagiarism due to the similarities. Subject matter The main subject of this painting is St. Jerome, who is the thin central figure depicted kneeling with the red cloth. St. Jerome (c. 347–420) was a Christian Latin scholar, translator, and priest. He was considered a doctor of the church, a saint whose doctrinal writings had special authority. One of his accomplishments is translating the Bible into Latin. From 382 to 385, he was a secretary for Pope Damasus I in Rome. Domenichino's painting shares its subject with an earlier painting by Sandro Botticelli, in which Botticelli depicted a scene from the pseudepigraphical letter of Eusebius to Damasus. History Commission The Congregation of San Girolamo della Carità church in Rome had been undergoing renovations and was being refurbished between 1611 and 1615. Domenichino was commissioned to do a painting for the high