Germany, Würzburg, late 15th Century / c. 1495
Saint Jerome and the Lion (From the former Church of St. Peter in Erfurt)
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Saint Jerome and the Lion (From the former Church of St. Peter in Erfurt) as sculpture (Germany, Würzburg, late 15th Century · c. 1495).
In the story Saint Jerome encounters a fearsome lion, here depicted as diminutive, gentle, and submissive.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as alabaster, traces of polychromy and credits Tilman Riemenschneider (German, active Würzburg, c. 1460–1531).
The museum's collection notes: This statue shows an important moment from a story about Saint Jerome. One day Jerome encountered a hurt lion. He removed a thorn from its paw, and the grateful animal became Jerome’s lifelong companion. This sculpture is made of alabaster, a soft stone suited for carving fine detail. Look closely! You can see flecks of paint and gold from when it was originally painted. Conservators looked at this sculpture under a microscope and found that the lion once had a red mouth, yellow fur, and black claws.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtSaint Jerome and the Lion (From the former Church of St. Peter in Erfurt)Original explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.