The male nude was based on drawings he saw of the recently discovered statue of the Apollo Belvedere in Rome. The stirrings of the Reformation formed the background for the composition of these works, about which much has been written. I as a pair. I contrast the religious life of study and meditation with the secular life of interrupted creativity. St. Jerome, the scholarly 4th-century translator of the Vulgate Bible, is shown peacefully contemplating matters of faith in his cozy, well ordered room.
Warm sunlight seems to shine beneficently on saint and peacefully dozing animals.
This meditative scene contrasts starkly with the chilly, darkened atmosphere and disarray surrounding the brooding winged figure of Melancholy lost in her own inner thoughts while she mourns the loss of divine inspiration.