Saint Jerome Writing, c.1607 Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting Saint Jerome Writing is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

We offer free shipping as well as paid express transportation services.

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The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

Caravaggio’s "Saint Jerome Writing," painted around 1607, is a haunting meditation on mortality and intellect, all wrapped up in his trademark chiaroscuro. The old saint, pale and gaunt, sits hunched over a book - his ribs jutting out like his very body is being consumed by the task of translating the Bible. His pen pauses mid-air, and you can almost hear the scratch of quill on parchment.

The palette is classically Caravaggio: deep, earthy browns and ochres dominate, with the bold red drapery of Jerome’s cloak being the only burst of color - its vividness startling against the muted, shadowy background. And speaking of shadows, the painting practically bleeds with them, with light slashing across Jerome’s figure, illuminating his sinewy muscles, his furrowed brow, and the gnarled hand poised in contemplation. It's as if the light is fighting its way through the darkness, much like Jerome’s own struggle with divine knowledge.

To the right, a skull sits ominously on the table - a memento mori, a grim reminder of the saint’s mortality. A few scattered bones lie nearby, making the painting feel almost like a tomb, with Jerome himself looking less like a saint and more like a man on the edge of death. The entire composition feels compressed, claustrophobic even - with Jerome’s hunched figure dominating the foreground, leaving the viewer with little room to breathe.

Caravaggio’s technique is as striking as ever, with his typical textures and unflinching realism. Every wrinkle, every muscle strain, is rendered in exacting detail, emphasizing the physicality of the saint’s labor. It’s brutal, beautiful, and unmistakably human.