St. Jerome was both a hermit and a scholar.
Dürer emphasized his scholarly pursuits, and depicted St. Jerome sitting at a desk translating the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. The room in which he sits has a warm, comfortable feeling, evidenced by the sun streaming through the leaded-glass windows and the sleeping animals in the foreground. During his days as a hermit in the desert, the saint removed a thorn from the paw of the lion who thereafter became his loyal companion, as tame as a dog. This part of St. Jerome’s life is depicted in the print by Cornelis Cort.
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