Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)
1517RCIN 405759
This portrait of the famous scholar was sent, along with a pendant portrait of Pieter Gillis, to Sir Thomas More in London as a gift, a popular idea among intellectuals. The figures share the same interior. Erasmus is writing St Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, the handwriting imitating his own hand. The composition recalls representations of St Jerome in his study translating the Bible.