Saint Jerome and the Lion (From the former Church of St. Peter in Erfurt)

From the museum

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. In the story Saint Jerome encounters a fearsome lion, here depicted as diminutive, gentle, and submissive.