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The wooden statue of Saint Jerome in the middle of the room is one of the Pinacoteca’s greatest treasures. The sculpture powerfully conveys the dignity of the Christian hermit whose body and gaze speak to a life of penitence and years in the wilderness. It comes from the church of San Girolamo all’Osservanza in Faenza and is evidence of the cultural ties between the city of the Manfredi and Florence, since some scholars maintain that it is by Donatello.
The Renaissance in Faenza and Romagna is represented by Biagio d’Antonio, a renowned Florentine painter who was active in Faenza; by the enigmatic Master of the Bertoni Altarpiece, inspired by Ferrara painters of the day and especially by Francesco del Cossa; by Marco Palmezzano of Forlì, whose monumental Micheline Altarpiece on the back wall is a masterpiece of perspective skill; and by Giovanni Battista Bertucci the Elder who was influenced by Tuscan and Umbrian painting as well as Pinturicchio’s lavish decorative style.
The polyptych displayed here, from the church of Santi Ippolito e Lorenzo, was the first painting to enter the museum in 1797. It provides the lead-in to the next room dedicated to Bertucci with panel paintings from the main convent churches in the city.