Nude Studies (Saint Jerome)

A full-length study shows a bearded elderly man in profile, holding a stone against his chest in a gesture of penance. A second, partial study to the right focuses on the musculature of a male torso. Fine cross-hatching is used throughout to define the physical form and tension of the muscles.

These studies reflect the Renaissance humanist project of understanding the human body as a microcosm of divine order, a principle central to Neoplatonic thought. Saint Jerome, as the archetypal scholar-hermit, represented the bridge between classical philology and spiritual devotion for Renaissance thinkers like Ficino.