L’utero dell’anima. Note su esegesi e corpo femminile in Gerolamo [The Uterus and the Soul. Notes on Female Body and Exegesis in Jerome]

The article aims to shed light on Jerome’s exegetical use of images borrowed from female physiology, such as menstruation and breastfeeding. Starting from the preface of the Letter 65 to Principia and extending the analysis to a corpus of texts composed in the last quarter of the 4th century CE and in the first decade of the 5th century CE (Letter 22 to Eustochium, Commentary on the Galatians, Letter 66 to Pammachius, Commentary on Matthew, Commentary on Amos, Commentary on Isaiah, Homilies on the Psalms), the attempt is made to show how Jerome relies on and develops these images, drawn from different sources such as Origen and Tertullian, Philo and Athanasius, to describe virginity and chastity as a spiritual motherhood: as mothers, those who devote themselves to ascetic life are exhorted to daily conceive and give birth to the Christ, thus replicating the model of Mary. In Jerome’s eyes, such exegetical elaboration both meets the needs of an educated audience, such as his Roman circle of friends and patrons, and fits his anti-heretical stance.