Saint Jerome in His Study

With incomparable virtuosity Dürer conveys St. Jerome's energetic application to his scholarly labors (probably his Latin translation of the Bible, the official or Vulgate version) in the ideal scholarly environment.  Using subtle variations of line, the artist sought to define not only the individual qualities and textures of the objects in the room, but also the flickering light and shadow that play over and around them.  The strength and subtlety of this impression suggests that it was one of the first taken from the plate.