Detail from a painting of St Jerome by Albrecht Durer, 1521. Durer recorded in March 1521: 'I painted a Jerome in oils, taking care over it and gave it as a gift to Rodrigo the Portugese' a merchants agent in Antwerp. The subject, St. Jerome, translated Greek and Hebrew biblical texts into the standard Latin versions that eventually formed the Vulgate, the principal Latin version of the Bible. The skull represents the seat of thought, and also symbolized spiritual perfection and mortality. Death of the physical body (symbolized by the skull) enabled one to be reborn at a higher level at which the spirit could rule. The finger pointing at the skull was an influential motif adopted by many contemporary and later painters.