La 'catabasi' di Gerolamo e i labirinti della sua memoria (in Ezech. 12,40,5-13)

Taking into account St Jerome’s Commentary on Ezechiel 12, 5-13 and the Preface to his last book, the contribution proposes an analysis of the multiple intertextual references, especially Virgilian ones, which explain the profound meaning of the youthful recollection of Jerome’s Sunday walks in the Roman catacombs. Several liminal images overlap in the memory interlace of the exegete: the entrance to the Cretan labyrinth with its darkness, the entrance of the Sibyl’s cave, the descent of Aeneas into Hades, the prophetic vision of the Temple, revealed to Ezekiel, with its intricate suites of rooms.