Virgin and Child with Saints Stephen and Jerome
Moretto da Brescia
Italian (Brescian/Venetian Schools), c. 1498-1554
1550
Oil on wood panel
Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation
Moretto attained considerable fame in his native city of Brescia by adopting the style of 16th century Venetian painting. Virgin and Child are set before a Venetian ‘Cloth of Honor,’ suspended by a grapevine. This alludes to the Eucharist and Christ’s sacrifice. On either side are Saint Stephen, and Saint Jerome dressed as a hermit and holding his Latin translation of the Bible.