Part 24 (2/2)

'The portrait, probably commissioned on the occasion of the scholar's fiftieth birthday, shows hie faroup portrait not of devotional or ceremonial character painted this side of the Alps At that ti in his country house at Chelsea with his second wife, Alice, his father, his only son and his son's fiancee, three aret Giggs The artist, who had been reco his hospitality' (P Ganz, op cit, Cat No 175)

The original painting is lost; a copy by Richard Locky, dated 1530, is at Nostell Priory The draas sent by More to Erasmus at Basle so as to introduce his faes were inscribed In two letters to Sir Thohter, dated 5 and 6 September 1530, Erasmus sent his enthusiastic thanks: 'I cannot put into words the deep pleasure I felt when the painter Holbein gave me the picture of your whole family, which is so completely successful that I should scarcely be able to see you better if I ith you' (Allen, vol 8, Nos 2211-2)

Compare also Erasmus's pen portrait of Sir Thomas More in his letter to Hutten, pp 231-9

xxx PORTRAIT OF ERASMUS Charcoal drawing by Albrecht Durer, dated 1520 Paris, Louvre _Facing p 239_

Drawn at Antwerp, during Durer's journey to the Netherlands When he received the false news of the murder of Luther at Whitsuntide 1521, Durer wrote in his diary: 'O Erasht of Christ, ride out with the Lord Christ, defend the truth and earn for thyself theby Albrecht Durer, dated 1526

_Facing p 246_

In his _Diary of a Journey to the Netherlands_, Durer noted in late August 1520: 'I have taken Erasmus of Rotterdam's portrait once more', but he does not say when he took his first portrait The earlier work is assumed to have been done onein the Louvre (Pl xxx) This drawing is mentioned by Erasmus himself in a letter to Pirckheimer of 1525 (p 240); in an earlier letter to the same friend (1522) he says that Durer had started to paint hi is lost; hence it cannot be proved that this second portrait was made in metal point--as is usually assu here reproduced was based on it

xxxII TERMINUS Eras by Hans Holbein

Basle, offentliche Kunstsa p 247_

_Frontispiece_: DECORATIVE PORTRAIT OF ERASMUS WITH HIS DEVICE, TERMINUS Engraving by Hans Holbein, 1535

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For help in the collection of illustrations we are specially indebted to M Daniel van Damme, Curator of the Erasmus Museum at Anderlecht and author of the _Ephemeride illustree de la Vie d'Erasme_, published in 1936 on the occasion of the fourth centenary of Erasraphs and permission to reproduce we have to thank also the Frick Collection, New York (Pl iv), the offentliche Kunstsa, Basle (Pl

X-XI, XIV, XXV, XXIX, xxxII), the Library of Basle University (Pl

V-VI), and the Warburg Institute, University of London (Pl iii) The photographs for Pl II, VII, XVIII-XX and XXVI are by M Mauhin, Anderlecht, those for Plates VIII and XVII by Dr F Stoedtner, Dusseldorf, and that for Plate IX by Fiorentini, Venice