Saint Jerome in a Grotto

In the late 1400s, Saint Jerome grew to have yet another symbol-a dead tree stump. In Albrecht Dürer's woodcut, it rests in the left foreground; in Albrecht Altdorfer's (P.10, 484), the stump anchors the base of Jerome's crucifix. In these contexts, the stump represents the wood of the Cross, and its proximity to the saint implies mortal transience and spiritual salvation through Christ's sacrifice.