Saint Jerome in the Wilderness

The composition of the painting has been drafted in monochrome onto the primed wooden panel.

The unfinished painting depicts an aged Saint Jerome during his retreat to the Syrian desert, where he lived the life of a hermit. The kneeling saint is gazing toward a crucifix at the extreme right of the painting.  Jerome holds a rock in his right hand; a rock with which he is traditionally shown beating his chest in penance. There is a lion at Jerome's feet.  the lion had  became a loyal companion after Jerome had extracted a thorn from its paw. The lion, the stone and a cardinal's hat are the traditional attributes of the saint .

There is a distant landscape of a lake surrounded by precipitous mountains shrouded in mist on the left side of the picture. To the right-hand side,  is a faintly-sketched church, seen through the opening in the rocks. The church's presence may allude to Jerome's position in Western Christianity as one of the Doctors of the Church. 

This painting is Tempera and oil on walnut panel, measuring 1 in × 30 in and is housed in theVatican Museum in Rome, Italy.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Saint Jerome in the Wilderness is an unfinished painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci.