St Jerome in his Study

In 1480 Ghirlandaio frescoed in the church of Ognissanti (All Saints) a St Jerome that rivalled the St Augustine which Botticelli had painted there a short time before. This work, which was accomplished with excessive ease, is superficial and full of objects that suffocate and impoverish its impact. The direct comparison with the Botticelli Saint serves merely to underline an unsatisfactory period for Ghirlandaio.