In the Middle Ages the Church Father Jerome, whose Latin translation of the Bible from early Hebrew and Greek texts is still in use and known as the 'Vulgate'(the generally familiar version), became one of the most prominent saints.

St Jerome is generally shown in paintings as a penitent in the desert, which for want of knowledge of its true nature is represented as a kind of richly wooded wasteland. However, another pictorial type was also formulated, emphasizing his philological work and making him a role model, even among humanists: it shows Jerome as a cardinal in his study, working on texts.

Cranach painted several versions of both types, the Penitent St Jerome in the Desert, St Jerome in his Study, and the blend of the two types, St Jerome Writing in a Landscape.

Preview	Picture Data	Info
	The Penance of St Jerome 1502 Oil and tempera on limewood, 56 x 42 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
	St Jerome Writing in a Landscape c. 1515 Oil and tempera on wood, 68 x 58 cm JAPS Collection, Mexico City
	St Jerome Writing in a Landscape (detail) c. 1515 Oil and tempera on wood JAPS Collection, Mexico City
	St Jerome in a Landscape 1515-20 Limewood panel, 51 x 38 cm Staatliche Museen, Berlin
	St Jerome in the Desert c. 1525 Oil and tempera on firwood, 90 x 67 cm Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck
	Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg as St Jerome in His Study 1525 Oil and tempera on limewood, 117 x 78 cm Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt
	Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg as St Jerome in His Study (detail) 1525 Oil and tempera on limewood Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt
	Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg as St Jerome in His Study 1526 Oil and tempera on wood, 115 x 79 cm Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota
	Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg as St Jerome in His Study (detail) 1526 Oil and tempera on wood Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota
	Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg as St Jerome in a Landscape 1527 Wood Staatliche Museen, Berlin