He contemplates Christ on the Cross leaning against a volume containing his Epistula ad Eustochium, engraved with the words "deliciis omni auxilio destitutus ad Jesu iacebam pedes. Ep. 22 ad Eustoch." (Saint Jerome, Epistula XXII ad Eustochium, ch. 7: "Putavi me Romanis interesse deliciis ... Ita omni auxilio destitutus ad Iesu iacebam pedes, rigabam lacrimis, crine tergebam et repugnantem carnem ebdomadarum inedia subiugabam"). Around him lie shattered pagan sculptures presumably representing the "Romane deliciae" mentioned in his letter. A pair of spectacles lies on the ground next to a closed volume