Portret van Desiderius Erasmus

About this artwork

Prent afkomstig uit: Meyer, Joseph. ˜Dasœ große Conversations-Lexikon für die gebildeten Stände.

Art Historical Context

This steel engraving, created by Karl Barth between 1828 and 1853, presents a dignified portrait of Desiderius Erasmus, the influential Dutch Renaissance humanist and scholar. The print originally appeared in Joseph Meyer’s *Das große Conversations-Lexikon*, a comprehensive German encyclopedia designed to bring knowledge to educated readers across Europe. By reproducing Erasmus’s likeness in this widely distributed reference work, the image connected 19th-century audiences with one of the most important intellectual figures of the 16th century. Steel engraving was especially valued during thi...

About the Artist

Karl Barth · 1787–1853

Karl Barth (also known as Carl Barth or Johann Carl Barth, 1787–1853) was a versatile German artist who worked as a copperplate engraver, draughtsman, painter, illustrator, and portrait engraver during the late eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth centuries. Born in Eisfeld in the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen and dying in Kassel, Barth exemplified the multi-talented artist-craftsman of the Roman...