St. Jerome 1511

Curator: This is Hans Baldung's "St. Jerome," a woodcut created in 1511. We see Jerome in a landscape setting, accompanied by his symbolic lion. Editor: Wow, it's giving serious enchanted forest vibes, but make it scholarly. All those jagged lines, the wispy beard, the lion's got such gentle eyes. I am immediately drawn in, especially to the gentleness that it conveys, considering the material. Curator: It's remarkable how Baldung achieves that sense of peace, considering the historical and cultural context. Jerome's story, especially during the Northern Renaissance, speaks to themes of scholarship, faith, and solitude. He translated the Bible into Latin. This specific iconography emerged around his actions during his time as a hermit. The woodcut medium itself allowed for wider dissemination of religious imagery and thus, wider access to these teachings. Editor: See, the landscape really sets a mood, doesn't it? That distant town…It feels like the rest of the world, and its noise, is far away, and the line art makes you feel the textures so uniquely. Baldung gets a surprising amount of detail into a woodcut; even Jerome's face has character in the cross-hatching of the aged features. Curator: Absolutely. It's interesting to consider how Baldung is framing this image in relation to, for example, shifting views on the Reformation and growing Humanist interest in early sources. What does it mean to present a Saint in this new and interesting landscape and in the democratic medium that a woodcut presents? It places Jerome right in conversation with his audience, rather than presenting the figure as unreachable. Editor: It is like he's trying to find some quietude away from the coming chaos of modernity. Honestly, seeing Jerome here, at one with his lion friend, surrounded by the written word… it makes me want to grab a book and a blanket and run to the woods myself! Curator: In light of current critical issues regarding access to knowledge, and the rise of extremism, it is interesting to return to an artwork so emblematic of scholarship, hermitage, and wider dissemination of thought. What could we stand to gain by applying these lenses to Baldung's early woodcut? Editor: I think, after seeing this woodcut, I understand Jerome a bit better and perhaps feel a stronger inclination to seek quiet and learn more! It is an artwork to be shared with a smile.