Erasmus of Rotterdam
Veit Specklin
c. 1538/40
Medium
Woodcut on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
28.5 × 15.4 cm (11 1/4 × 6 1/8 in.)
Classification
woodcut
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
21465
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Hans Holbein was the court painter of Henry VIII and probably executed the drawing for this allegorical woodcut of the humanist Desiderius Erasmus while the scholar lived in England. Set within a classicizing trellis, with antique sculptures rather than books, it refers to the writer’s passion for antiquity. Another portrait of Erasmus on display in this gallery, by Albrecht Dürer, was supposedly made from life, but it is equally formal and removed from the sitter. Erasmus wears a similar schola...