Heiliger Hieronymus im Gebet c. 1632 - 1633

Rembrandt van Rijn made this drawing, Saint Jerome in Prayer, in the Netherlands, sometime in the mid-17th century. The image depicts a kneeling figure who is partially obscured by shadow. With him is a lion, the animal associated with Saint Jerome. Rembrandt was working in a culture deeply shaped by the Protestant Reformation. The institutions of the Catholic Church were discredited and artists turned to more personal expressions of faith. The Church Fathers, like Saint Jerome, were newly important as direct links to the origins of Christianity. Drawings like this reflect the artist’s own contemplation of Christian history. The hasty sketch suggests an intimate, individual act. Rembrandt is known to have collected a wide range of objects and images to inspire his work. The evidence of these collections can be found in inventories and sale catalogues that give a sense of the artist's intellectual world. The social meaning of an artwork such as this is thus closely tied to the artist’s own studio practice.