Saint Jerome in the Wilderness 

Paul Troger made this ink drawing of Saint Jerome in the Wilderness sometime in the first half of the 18th century. This expressive study presents the saint as a figure of learned passion, of course, but also a figure wrestling with his faith, books in hand. The lion at his side is a traditional feature of the story of St. Jerome. Troger was working in Austria, where the Catholic Church had reasserted its authority in previous decades through art and architecture. Artists like Troger helped to reinvigorate religious imagery by emphasizing highly charged emotional states. The book and the crucifix are typical symbols, but here they are made newly potent, held in an embrace by a body in the throes of a spiritual crisis. As art historians, we can look at surviving drawings like this, alongside other works by Troger and his contemporaries, to understand the period's approach to representing religious experience. In the process, we gain insight into the social and religious climate of 18th-century Austria.