_Bono_ (Ferrarese: painted about 1450).
In the signature of this picture, "Bono of Ferrara" announces
himself "a pupil of Pisano's," and the figure of St. Jerome
here much resembles Pisano's "St. Anthony" (776). Bono's other
known work is a fresco of St. Christopher in the Eremitani
Chapel at Padua. "A clumsy and inferior master," says Morelli
(_German Galleries_, p. 11 _n._); "an excellent painter," says
Sir F. Burton. His style is, at any rate, precise and effective.
St. Jerome (for whom see 773 and 227) is in the desert, deep in
thought; his lion couched at his feet keeps his master's thoughts
company as faithfully as a scholar's dog. The desert is here shown as
the saint's study; notice, especially, the little table that the rock
makes behind him for his books. Ruskin says of a similar modification
of accessories to express supernatural character, in Bellini's "St.
Jerome" at Venice: "The Saint sits upon a rock, his grand form defined
against clear green open sky; he is reading; a noble tree springs out
of a cleft in the rock, bends itself suddenly back to form a rest
for the volume, then shoots up into the sky. There is something very
beautiful in this obedient ministry of the lower creature; but be it
observed that the sweet feeling of the whole depends upon the service
being such as is consistent with its nature. It is not animated,
it does not _listen_ to the saint, not bend itself towards him as
if in affection; this would have been mere fancy, illegitimate and
effectless. But the simple bend of the trunk to receive the book is
miraculous subjection of the true nature of the tree; it is therefore
imaginative, and very touching" (_Modern Painters_, vol. ii. pt. iii.
sec. ii. ch. v. § 8).