Great 17th century Italian painting, Saint Jerome in Meditation

Italian painting from the second half of the 17th century. The painting, oil on canvas, is an interesting ancient replica of a very famous composition by Guido Reni depicting Saint Jerome in meditation. The original, made around 1640, is now in the Reggia di Venaria Reale, on loan from the Galleria Sabauda in Turin, and comes from the collections of Prince Eugene of Savoy-Soissons (1663-1736), a great leader in the service of the Viennese court and a refined collector. Saint Jerome, declared a Doctor of the Church by Pius V in 1576, was born in Dalmatia, in present-day Croatia, and was a man of great literary culture. Based on the original texts in Greek and Hebrew, Jerome translated the four Gospels into Latin. There are some iconographies of Saint Jerome linked to episodes of his life. Among these, the depiction of the saint in the desert, meditating or studying, is very widespread. The original artwork by Guido Reni and the one under study show the saint sitting in a wooded environment, while he rests his head on his left arm, in meditative concentration, and holds a skull in his right hand, a symbol of penitence and memento mori. On the rock on which he rests there are also two volumes depicted, one of which is open, and an inkwell, an obvious reference to his studies and his exegetical work. The canvas in question presents some variations in the background environment: the bare and austere landscape of the original is here enlivened by a green tree, a blue sky and some vaporous clouds on the horizon. Painting already restored with relining, replacement of the frame and repainting of the color in small spots. Overall in excellent condition.