To discover at the Château du Clos Lucé, Saint Jerome by Leonardo da Vinci, an enigmatic and little-known painting

Leonardo da Vinci’s least known painting, the Portrait of Saint Jerome, is also the most intriguing. Saint Jerome translated the Bible into Latin, and spent four years in the desert to retire from the world. Leonardo da Vinci depicts him as a penitent hermit when he paints it in 1480. The master never finished the painting, without anyone knowing why.

The work is always enigmatic, combining painting and drawing. On one part of the painting, Leonardo da Vinci used the pencil, on another, he spread the material with a brush. A fingerprint was even found. “He will use finger paint, which allows him to spread the fresh paint and cause this sfumato, this faded “, explains François Saint-Bris, owner of the Château du Clos Lucé (Indre-et-Loire). Behind Saint Jerome, the blue-green landscape of the canvas is reminiscent of that of La Joconde.