Study for St Jerome
In 1415, Japan’s Josetsu made the now world-famous painting of a man trying to catch a fish with a gourd. In 1514, Albrecht Dürer depicted St Jerome in his study, with books, a skull, and a gourd hanging from the ceiling. Takeo Hanazawa combined the art historical motifs of both works in this drawing. For him, the gourds symbolize forces of nature that we cannot always control.