17th century
Penitent Saint Jerome
High relief in carved, painted and gilded wood with the "estofado de oro" technique, 85 x 54 cm
Estofado de Oro is a particular decorative technique used primarily for the creation of sacred images on polychrome wood. The technique involves several steps and proves to be particularly laborious: first, the carved surface is covered with a layer of genuine gold leaf on which a layer of orange-red bole clay is applied. Subsequently, the gold leaf is covered with color: the applied colors were varied and designed to make the contrast with the gold chromatically effective: among the most commonly used colors were green, light blue, red, black and white. Finally, the color was removed by scratching with a special tool called a dandelion to free the parts where it was intended to bring the gold back to the surface. The whole thing took on a bright and shimmering color, particularly scenographic and effective. This particular and unusual technique, which has its origins in Gothic art, was widely used in Spanish Baroque art and from Spain was exported to American colonial art and to Sardinia – especially in the province of Medio Campidano – and to Sicily. Among the most famous works within which the estofado de oro technique is implemented is the magnificent retablo of the main altar of the Cathedral of Toledo.
It is precisely with the fascinating technique of estofado de oro that this beautiful wooden relief appears to be decorated. The sculptor who deals with its execution depicts Saint Jerome as a hermit with all his canonical iconographic attributes, the cardinal's hat and the lion, from whose paw, according to a popular story, the saint extracted a thorn. Jerome, dressed only in a meager animal skin, is represented here in his hermitage phase, penitent and in prayer.
