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Saint Jerome and the Lion (From the former Church of St. Peter in Erfurt)
Tilman Riemenschneiderc. 1495
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
According to legend, Saint Jerome (347–420 bce) lived in the desert, where he removed a thorn from an injured lion. Jerome is venerated in the Catholic Church as a Church Father, an important early author of Christianity. Here, he wears cardinal’s clothing from around 1500.
Tilman Riemenschneider focused on Jerome’s relationship with the lion, creating empathy for the wounded animal. The delicacy of the depiction, which may have been partially painted to add highlights, is typical of alabaster, as is its fine polishing. The cord of the cardinal’s hat, missing today, may have been supplemented from another material.
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Details
- Title: Saint Jerome and the Lion (From the former Church of St. Peter in Erfurt)
- Creator: Tilman Riemenschneider (German, active Würzburg, c. 1460–1531)
- Date Created: c. 1495
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 37.8 x 28.1 x 15.9 cm (14 7/8 x 11 1/16 x 6 1/4 in.)
- Provenance: Private Collection, Paris, Aynard Collection, Lyons, Harry Fuld, Frankfurt am Main, (Rosenberg & Steibel, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Sculpture
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1946.82
- Medium: alabaster, traces of polychromy
- Fun Fact: In the story Saint Jerome encounters a fearsome lion, here depicted as diminutive, gentle, and submissive.
- Department: Medieval Art
- Culture: Germany, Würzburg, late 15th Century
- Credit Line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Collection: MED - Gothic
- Accession Number: 1946.82
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