The quirky “Bad Catholic” writer Marc Barnes — who has left Patheos Catholic and is once again blogging from his own digs — has a pretty amusing takedown of the weird-looking lions that show up in paintings of St. Jerome. He writes:
According to the legend, Jerome was hanging with his religious brothers when a lion limped towards them. His brothers fled. Jerome, being braver than you, welcomed the lion as he would any guest. He pulled an irksome thorn out of the poor guy’s paw and cleaned him up. They became good friends, and artists have since depicted Jerome with his lion.
The only problem with this delightful narrative is, well, no one knows how to draw a freaking lion. No one. The history of art is rife with depictions of St. Jerome’s lion-compadre so horrendous they will give you strange, slightly-humorous but ultimately uncomfortable nightmares.
He puts together a nice little compendium of said “derpy lions.” It’s a fair cop. They look awful.
If you need a laugh today, it’s worth a look.
Steve Skojec is the Founding Publisher of OnePeterFive.com. He received his BA in Communications and Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2001. His commentary has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Crisis Magazine, EWTN, Huffington Post Live, The Fox News Channel, Foreign Policy, and the BBC. Steve and his wife Jamie have eight children. You can find more of his writing at his Substack, The Skojec File.
YES! I refuse to go to Patheos! I love Bad Catholic