The Penitence of St. Jerome 1509

Lucas Cranach the Elder created this woodcut, The Penitence of St. Jerome, during the early 16th century. Cranach, a court painter and close friend of Martin Luther, lived in a society undergoing massive religious upheaval during the Protestant Reformation. Here, we see St. Jerome, traditionally depicted as a scholar and translator of the Bible, in a moment of private reflection and repentance. The landscape around him, alive with detail, contrasts with the starkness of Jerome’s emaciated figure. Jerome’s act of self-reflection can be viewed through the lens of the Reformation’s emphasis on individual faith and the questioning of established religious authority. The presence of the lion, a common symbol of St. Jerome, might also suggest themes of domestication and the power of faith to tame wild instincts. Cranach invites us to meditate on the relationship between the internal and external worlds, between the personal and the spiritual, and the emotional journey towards atonement.