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Why do Renaissance paintings often show St. Jerome wearing a cardinal’s robes?

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José de Ribera: Saint Jerome — St. Jerome *Saint Jerome*, oil on canvas by José de Ribera (Jusepe de Ribera, Lo Spagnoletto), c. 1638–40; in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

In Renaissance art, St. Jerome is frequently depicted wearing the robes of a cardinal, though this is an anachronistic representation.1

While St. Jerome was a prominent biblical scholar and served as secretary to Pope Damasus I, he was not a cardinal. Artists of the Renaissance period utilized these vestments to reflect his high stature as a model humanist and his significant influence within the Roman Catholic Church.231