Durer's engraving of St Jerome in his study. Details of the life of St. Jerome, a 4th century Christian scholar, were well known in Durer's day, and in this print the artist, used the saint to idealize the contemplative Christian life. Legend held that St. Jerome befriended a lion by pulling a thorn out of its paw, and Durer has shown the animal guarding his master's peaceful study from worldly intrusions.