Saint Jerome in His Study

Albrecht Dürer

National Gallery of Art

Printed with fine but densely spaced black lines, a man hunches over a table writing in the far corner of a room in this vertical engraving. A lion and a dog lie on the floor closer to us, both with their eyes closed. Arched window openings along the left wall are filled with bullseye glass, and that wall is lined with a bench. A chest and a pair of slippers are tucked under the bench, closer to us. On the bench are three books and two pillows. In the window well closer to us is another book and a skull. The man sits at a square table with trestle legs in the far corner next to the second bay of windows. A small crucifix is at the front left corner of the table. The man, who is balding with long hair, wears a cassock and heavy robes. His feet and knees are pressed together, and his hands are close to each other on the angled writing surface. A glow around his head creates a halo. The only other object on the table is his ink pot. On the far wall are an hourglass, a flat topped, wide-brimmed hat, a rosary, and hand broom. Pieces of paper and a pair of scissors tucked into bands pinned to the wall, and a shelf above holds candles and vessels. The ceiling is made of wood beams, and a pear-shaped gourd hangs at the top right corner. A wide chair holding a cushion sits near the table, and the artist’s initials, AD, and the date, 1514, are on a tablet that lies on the floor nearby.