On the Feast of St. Jerome, the Children’s Art School had its second “Come and See” class. The children learned about the Legend of St. Jerome and the Lion. Although most famous for the Latin vulgate translation of the Bible, St. Jerome and the legend of the lion is quite a captivating and a fun focus for an art project for the children.

The story is recounted in The Golden Legend written by the Dominican Blessed Jacobus de Voragine in 1260. The Golden Legend contained detailed accounts of heroic acts of the early martyrs, fathers and doctors of the Church. Although primarily intended for preachers, this work became a treasure trove for artists and sculptors in the late Medieval and early Renaissance period.

According to The Golden Legend, a lion limped into the monastery where St. Jerome was. The other monks fled in fear, but St. Jerome welcomed him as a guest. He tended to the wounded paw of the lion that had been torn by thorns. The lion then lived among the monks as a tame pet.

St. Jerome is very often depicted with a lion by his side. We looked at several such paintings through the centuries, including Medieval and early Renaissance. The lions in these paintings are quite interesting, often not resembling lions at all. Their focus was more on symbolism than realism.

We then looked at images of real lions, and used them as a basis for our drawings. The children first drew their lion’s face on black paper with white colored pencil, and then using oil pastels, filled in their drawings with layers upon layers of color. They finished by drawing the lion’s mane in a burst of color. St. Jerome, pray for us!