Saint Jerome seated by a tree looking up at a crucifix, a lion drinking water from a stream to his right

Art Historical Context

This 1728 etching and engraving captures the contemplative figure of Saint Jerome seated beneath a tree, gazing upward at a crucifix while a lion drinks peacefully from a nearby stream. The scene draws from the beloved medieval legend of the saint, who famously removed a thorn from a lion’s paw, earning the animal’s lifelong loyalty. As one of the four Doctors of the Church and translator of the Latin Vulgate Bible, Jerome is frequently depicted in Christian art as a scholar and penitent hermit, and this print emphasizes both his spiritual devotion and his harmonious bond with nature. Created through the combined techniques of etching and engraving, the work allows for fine linear detail and tonal depth that bring the rocky landscape and flowing water to life. The print is based on a design by the Italian Renaissance artist Baldassare Tommaso Peruzzi and was realized in the eighteenth century by engravers Louis Surugue and Nicolas Chasteau. Such reproductive prints played a vital role in disseminating earlier compositions to wider audiences across Europe. Housed today in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Drawings and Prints, this sheet measuring roughly 15 by 11 inches offers viewers a window into centuries of artistic tradition surrounding one of Christianity’s most enduring saints.