Saint Jerome in His Study by Albrecht Durer Ceramic Tile

Saint Jerome in His Study by Albrecht Durer, 1514, is a large and unusually detailed copper plate engraving depicting the saint writing in his study surrounded by objects of symbolic importance. A small dog and lion doze in the foreground. This print may be among the first to depict the effects of light and shadow in the difficult metal plate medium, and foreshadows similar work by Rembrandt and later generations of artists. Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was a German painter of the Northern Renaissance whose work as an engraver, printmaker, mathematician and theorist secured his reputation as one of the greatest artists of Europe. His many paintings, portraits, altarpieces, watercolors, and engravings were the first in the Northern Renaissance to use classical motifs from antiquity and the Italian Renaissance. Durer’s unparalleled skill in drawing and engraving as well as mastery of perspective allowed him rapid execution of a range of motifs which elicit universal admiration to this day.