“Saint Jerome in the Cell” – the third engraving in the famous series Three “Workshop Engravings” on copper.
St. Jerome in the cell is an allegorical depiction of the contemplative way of life. The old man is sitting at the music stand in the depth of the cell, in the foreground a lion was stretched out. Through the windows in this peaceful cozy dwelling, light is poured, but here symbols that remind of death are invading: a skull and an hourglass.
Saint Jerome works tensely, his pen is in his hand, his head is surrounded by radiance. On the table is only a stand for books, on it is the work of St. Jerome, the crucifix and the inkwell. The composition of the picture is typical for the Renaissance. In the foreground, a small dog and a fearsome lion sleep peacefully, this is an obligatory part of the legend of Hieronymus Blessed.
There is a legend that when Jerome lived in a monastery, a lame lion suddenly came to him. All the monks fled, and Jerome quietly examined the painful paw of the lion and pulled out of it a splinter. After that the grateful lion became his constant companion. The monks asked Jerome to make the lion work, so that he, like them, would earn his daily bread. Jerome agreed and forced the lion to guard the monastery donkey when he drove wood.
Once the lion lost his way and the donkey remained without a guard. Left unattended, the donkey was robbed by robbers and sold the caravan of merchants who had taken him away. Returning, the lion did not find the donkey and, deeply saddened, went back to the monastery. The monks, at the sight of the lion’s guilty look, decided that he ate the donkey, and at the expiation of sin they ordered the lion to do the work intended for the donkey. The lion obeyed and began to work humbly. But one day the lion saw a donkey in a caravan and, as proof of his innocence, triumphantly led the whole caravan into a monastery. In connection with this legend, Jerome in Western European painting was almost always depicted accompanied by a lion.
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