page_title: Portrait of Erasmus (Dürer)
section_title: Art historical evaluation
hierarchical_section_title: Portrait of Erasmus (Dürer) / Art historical evaluation
caption_attribution_description: English: The famous scholar and theologian Desiderius Erasmus (1466/1469–1536) required a large number of portraits of himself to send to his correspondents and admirers throughout Europe. Hans Holbein the Younger painted him several times in Basel, and Holbein's portraits were then often copied. It is not always clear which versions were by Holbein himself, which by his workshop, and which by independent copyists. This version of the type with the closed book has a church background probably added in about 1629 by Hendrik van Steenwijk II. background added c. 1629
context_page_description: Portrait of Erasmus is a late period 1526 woodcut engraving by the German artist Albrecht Dürer. The portrait was commissioned by the Dutch Renaissance humanist Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam when the two men met in the Netherlands between 1520 and 1521. Erasmus was then at the height of his renown, and required representations of himself to accompany his writings. It was not completed until some six years later, but proceeds a number of preparatory sketches made at that time.
  It is not a close representation of Erasmus' physical characteristics, for which has sometimes been criticised, including by Erasmus himself, and by Martin Luther, with whom Erasmus had a prolonged and thorny relationship. It is today viewed by art historians as a pioneering capture of his moral integrity, intellectualism and scholarship, and is one of the most popular and recognisable portraits of the sitter.
context_section_description: Although the work is widely known and popular, early to mid 20th art historians viewed it with reserve. Both Heinrich Wölfflin and Erwin Panofsky described it in generally favourable terms, although Wölfflin wrote that it "lacked life", especially when compared to Hans Holbein's portraits of Erasmus. Similarly, Max Friedländer described it as "hesitant" and without conviction. 
  Dürer was not seeking to exactly reproduce the sitter's physical appearance, but more to represent "the better portrait will his writings show"; indicating that his words, rather than his physical features are the most noteworthy aspect for recording. According to Panofsky, "Dürer did his best to 'characterize' Erasmus by the paraphernalia of erudition and taste, with a charming bouquet of violets and lilies-of-the-valley testifying to his love of beauty and, at the same time, serving as symbols of modesty and virginal purity." Panofsky concluded that Durer "failed to capture that elusive blend of charm, serenity, ironic wit, complacency, and formidable strength that was Erasmus of Rotterdam."
  Erasmus himself was vocally unhappy with the final work, and in 1528, the year of Dürer's death, complained in a letter that the portrait did not physically resemble him. However, and although Erasmus often sough portraits of himself, he was rarely happy of the results. Of a minor Holbein 
  portrait he wrote, "If Erasmus looked as young as that he would be thinking of taking a wife". Martin Luther (1483-1546) also disliked the engraving, but having publicly fallen out with Erasmus at the time, dryly observed that "no one is really pleased with his own likeness".
caption: Hans Holbein, Portrait of Desiderius Erasmus. c 1520–40. Royal Collection, London
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