Dürer’s technical mastery as an engraver is evident in the fourth of his famous Master Prints, St. Jerome in His Study, often considered as part of a group of three Dürer engravings, the other two being the well-known Melencolia I (1514) and Knight, Death and the Devil (1513).

Together they have been viewed as representing the three spheres of activity recognized in medieval times: Knight, Death, and the Devil belongs to the moral sphere and the "active life"; Melencolia I represents the intellectual; and St. Jerome the theological and contemplative life.

Saint Jerome is shown sitting behind his desk, engrossed in work.

The table, on the corner of which is a cross, is typical of the Renaissance.

An imaginary line from Jerome's head passing through the cross would arrive at the skull on the window ledge, as if contrasting death and the Resurrection.

The lion in the foreground is part of the traditional iconography of St. Jerome, and near it is a sleeping dog, an animal found frequently in Dürer's works, symbolizing loyalty.

Both creatures are part of Jerome's story in the Golden Legend of around 1260, which contained fanciful hagiographies of saints.