St Jerome in a rocky landscape.

Engraving, 29,9 x 26,1 cm, laid paper, signed in the plate at lower right corner "Titianus inventor/1565" (trimmed to the borderline on top, left and right, sm. margin at bottom, some sm. repairs on verso, sm. vertical stain running along the right edge).

Very detailed representation of St Jerome, reading the Bible in the desert. His lion lurks from under a rock while a jay sings his song on top. High up in the tree on the left, one can spot a red squirrel. After working for a short while for the printing house of Hieronymus Cock in Antwerp, Cornelis Cort left for Italy, never to return again. He worked in Venice between 1565 and 1566, where he became a close collaborate of Titian, who used Cort's talents as engraver to distribute his own designs. This print is an example of Cort working in Titian's workshop. Rare second state (of 7), without the addition of Cort's name.
Ref. New Hollstein (Cort), 120.2. - Bierens de Haan 134.