Renaissance · Cleveland Museum of Art · 1946.82
Saint Jerome and the Lion (From the former Church of St. Peter in Erfurt)
Tilman Riemenschneider, c. 1495
Cleveland Museum of Art · Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund · Public domain
- Artist
- Tilman Riemenschneider
- Date
- c. 1495
- Medium
- alabaster, traces of polychromy
- Dimensions
- Overall: 37.8 x 28.1 x 15.9 cm (14 7/8 x 11 1/16 x 6 1/4 in.)
- Era
- Renaissance
Why it matters
This statue shows an important moment from a story about Saint Jerome. One day Jerome encountered a hurt lion. He removed a thorn from its paw, and the grateful animal became Jerome’s lifelong companion. This sculpture is made of alabaster, a soft stone suited for carving fine detail. Look closely! You can see flecks of paint and gold from when it was originally painted. Conservators looked at this sculpture under a microscope and found that the lion once had a red mouth, yellow fur, and black claws.