The Penitence of St. Jerome 1502

Lucas Cranach the Elder's "The Penitence of St. Jerome" (1502) depicts the biblical scholar, St. Jerome, kneeling in prayer in a lush landscape. This Northern Renaissance painting, housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, is known for its detailed rendering of nature and its melancholic atmosphere. St. Jerome's contorted posture and the inclusion of a lion, a symbol of his hermitage, emphasizes his physical and spiritual suffering. The distant image of Christ on the cross suggests the source of St. Jerome's profound penitence.