or
ermine St. Augustine and the vision In this image St. Augustine is sitting at his desk writing a letter to his contemporary
St. Jerome, a divine also known for his intellect. In his original letter, St. Augustine recounts that while he was in his study, in the city of
Hippo, he had been contemplating a treatise on the "glory of blessed souls who rejoice with Christ." He then began to write a letter to St. Jerome about it when he was suddenly bathed in
divine light accompanied by an indescribable aroma. Simultaneously the voice of St. Jerome, who had just died in
Bethlehem, filled the room, chastising St. Augustine for his intellectual pride. This moment the painting depicts is that of St. Augustine seated at his desk, pen raised, peering at the window from which miraculous light pours, which was "not seen in our times, and hardly to be described in our poor language." This light is marked through the long shadows it casts across the floor and the mesmerized, attentive expressions of both St. Augustine and his dog, who sits on the floor. A finished preparatory drawing of this painting, made on paper with pen, survives that the
British Museum in London that was made around 1501–1508. The detailed drawing that Carpaccio made highlights the setting and the use of light; the figure of St. Augustine is more sketched. The most striking, albeit minor difference, between the drawing and the finished painting is that the latter has a dog, whereas the drawing itself (as well as the underdrawing detected by
infrared reflectography) was planned with some other small animal in mind perhaps a cat,
weasel or
ermine. The light evenly illuminates many of the objects which are exhibited throughout St. Augustine's study.
The Study St. Augustine is pictured sitting in his Italian
studiolo, or a study that is a private
cabinet or room. These studies, also known as
kunstkammer,
wunderkammer or
cabinets of curiosities, were typically used to display collector's items, and became popular in Italy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Aristocratic families collected items to exhibit their wealth, power, taste, and worldly knowledge, while others such as merchants and humanists collected items to show sophistication and business success. The study is a significant part of the painting's subject, catching the viewer's attention immediately and highlighting St. Augustine as a humanist scholar who was an intelligent, knowledgeable, and pious man. Numerous books lining the bookshelves display St. Augustine's intelligence, as do various objects around the room such as an astrolabe, figurines, a
conch shell, furniture, and other ornaments. Other items in the study symbolize St. Augustine's Christian piety, such as the mitre, crook, and statue of the Resurrection of Christ, seen in the small niche with the altar located in the center of the back of the study. The objects presented were painted based on models and studio props from Islamic, Western, and Italian origin, such as a bronze pacing horse statue, a sculpture of Venus, and the statue of the resurrected Christ. Each one of these objects is distinguished by its own shape, texture, and pop of color in the painting, yet no one object is unequally emphasized. This provides a cataloging effect for these objects, many with symbolic meanings, and reinforces St. Augustine's ownership of them.
Objects in the study Many of the objects in the study would usually go unnoticed; however, Vittore Carpaccio chose to display the cabinet in the back left of the painting with the doors wide open and the shelf under the altarpiece with the curtain pulled back in order to allow the viewer to see more in depth into the life of St. Augustine. The door has a lock and key in it to reflect contemporary practices of locking up books since they were considered sacred books. Many other objects are carefully positioned around the study in order to display the collection of St. Augustine. Scholars have argued that the impressive variety of items from the arts, sciences, astronomy, and theology, drawn from different places and historical times, symbolizes the active, intellectual mind of St. Augustine. Some of the notable objects include: • On and around St. Augustine's desk, a conch shell, bell, pair of scissors, a tin
Mamluk Sultanate vessel (referred to as an "
instagnada" in Renaissance inventories), a variety of books and musical manuscripts, and an
armillary sphere. • An attentive white
Volpino Italiano, which is similar to a
German Spitz • An Italian Renaissance bronze replica one of the
Horses of San Marco Basilica (situated on the left bookshelf, it is similar to a statuette of a pacing horse made in
Venice in the sixteenth century which can be seen at the
Ashmolean Museum in Oxford). • Also on the bookshelf on the far left is an early sixteenth-century bronze version of Venus (now at the
Victoria and Albert Museum in London) by
Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi. The inclusion of the statue of Venus may symbolize the coming of good fortune. • A Mamluk candlestick, a similar early fourteenth-century one can found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. • Three
astrolabes and a
quadrant in the small alcove in the left corner. File:Vittore Carpaccio 028.jpg|In the center of the room is a
German Spitz dog File:Vittore Carpaccio 036.jpg File:Vittore Carpaccio 029.jpg|The altar File:Vittore Carpaccio 034.jpg|A bookshelf File:Vittore Carpaccio 035.jpg|An ornate chair File:Vittore Carpaccio 030.jpg|La pedana (platform) File:Vittore Carpaccio 032.jpg|Musical manuscripts File:Vittore Carpaccio 033.jpg|La scrivania (writing desk) ==See also==