Saint Jerome kneeling in Prayer, looking down

Saint Jerome is depicted kneeling in prayer, his head bowed, and hands clasped in a moment of solitary devotion. The sparse composition, marked by a jug, a book and a cup, evokes the austerity of his desert retreat, while the lion at his side guards him quietly, and serves to signal his identity to the viewer. Unlike other prints dedicated to Saint Jerome by Rembrandt, which show him at once as a scholar and a hermit (see lots 56, 58 & 59), this is a quintessential depiction of Saint Jerome penitent in the wilderness. Erik Hinterding compared Saint Jerome’s pose to Rembrandt's painting Judas repentant, returning the pieces of silver (1629), noting how it recalls earlier treatments of remorse and repentance in the artist's work. The slightly ragged, sketchy style of the print, reminiscent of some of his prints of beggars, street vendors and performers, underlines the humility of the saint.