Saint Jerome in Penitence

Lucas Cranach the Elder was the leading artist of Wittenberg, the intellectual and spiritual hotbed of Germany. Although Cranach was an ardent Catholic when he made this print, he would become one of Martin Luther's closest friends and most effective propagandists (Wittenberg is where Luther posted his theses decrying church practices). One wonders whether Cranach's interest in Saint Jerome presages his close association with Luther, the most important Bible translator of his own time. This woodcut fairly pulsates, with nature cast as a spiritual force alive in all its elements.