Saint Jerome in the Wilderness

After having a vision in which he was judged before God for his failure to convert to Christianity, Saint Jerome retreated to the Syrian desert to seek penance. Niccolò Boldrini’s large-scale woodcut shows a minute Jerome living in peace with a pride of lions, who are grateful to him for removing a thorn from one of their paws. Boldrini worked closely with Titian, to whom this print has sometimes been credited. Titian controlled the details of the composition; however, Boldrini cut and printed the woodblock.