© Cleveland Museum of Art
Tilman Riemenschneider (German, 1460-1531). Saint Jerome and the Lion, ca. 1490-95. From the former Church of Saint Peter in Erfurt. Alabaster. 37.8 x 28.1 x 15.9 cm (14 7/8 x 11 x 6 1/4 in.). 1946.82.
St. Jerome (331-420 A.D.) was a Latin Father of the early Western Church, a theologian and writer. Educated in Rome and fluent in Latin and Greek, the well-traveled and learned scholar of Hebrew is best known for the Vulgate or Latin version of the Bible, commissioned by Pope Damasus I (r. 366-383) in 382. According to legend, Jerome removed a thorn from a lion's paw. The lion came to represent fearless devotion to the Christian faith in the saint's iconography or symbolic representation in art.
Tilman Riemenschneider (1460-1531) was an important German sculptor of Late Gothic Europe. In his Saint Jerome and the Lion (ca. 1490-95), the seated theologian, dressed in cardinal's robes, holds a lion's left foreleg before removing a painful barb from its paw. Known largely for his wooden sculptures, Riemenschneider's statue in alabaster, originally polychromed, is a rarity. This sensitive sculpture is a highlight of Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art, an exhibition of Early Christian, Byzantine and Western European art (illuminated manuscripts, paintings, prints, sculptures and textiles) from the Third through Early Sixteenth Centuries. The show describes artistic patronage, courtly life, religious devotion and warfare from Late Antiquity through the Renaissance.
"Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art" is on view from May 10 through September 16, 2007 at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Prinzregentenstraße 3, D-80538, Munich, Germany (Telephone: 0049-89-211 24-01; Website). The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Thursday until 8:00 PM). Admission is €5 for adults (€1 on Sunday) and free for persons under 18 years of age.
This picture comes from one of the many special art exhibitions available to you during Summer 2007. To view the full list of shows, please see this page.
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From your Guide: Stan Parchin, Senior Correspondent for Museums and Special Exhibitions, is a specialist in ancient, late-medieval and Renaissance art and history, and a regular contributor to About Art History. You may read all of his Special Exhibition and Catalogue Reviews here.
Tilman Riemenschneider (1460-1531) was an important German sculptor of Late Gothic Europe. In his Saint Jerome and the Lion (ca. 1490-95), the seated theologian, dressed in cardinal's robes, holds a lion's left foreleg before removing a painful barb from its paw. Known largely for his wooden sculptures, Riemenschneider's statue in alabaster, originally polychromed, is a rarity. This sensitive sculpture is a highlight of Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art, an exhibition of Early Christian, Byzantine and Western European art (illuminated manuscripts, paintings, prints, sculptures and textiles) from the Third through Early Sixteenth Centuries. The show describes artistic patronage, courtly life, religious devotion and warfare from Late Antiquity through the Renaissance.
"Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art" is on view from May 10 through September 16, 2007 at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Prinzregentenstraße 3, D-80538, Munich, Germany (Telephone: 0049-89-211 24-01; Website). The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Thursday until 8:00 PM). Admission is €5 for adults (€1 on Sunday) and free for persons under 18 years of age.
This picture comes from one of the many special art exhibitions available to you during Summer 2007. To view the full list of shows, please see this page.
******
From your Guide: Stan Parchin, Senior Correspondent for Museums and Special Exhibitions, is a specialist in ancient, late-medieval and Renaissance art and history, and a regular contributor to About Art History. You may read all of his Special Exhibition and Catalogue Reviews here.