Erasmus of Rotterdam
1555
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
About the artist
1555
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Erasmus of Rotterdam is a 1555 ink by Frans Huys, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This engraving shows a serious-looking man in a fur-lined robe, reading a book at a cluttered desk. His hands rest on the pages, and a quill, inkwell, and hourglass sit nearby. Behind him, a small scene of a harbor and buildings appears in the background, framed like a window. The text around him names him *Magnus Ille Erasmus Roterodamus*—a scholar’s pose, not a king’s. The tiny details, like the folded letter and the tiny ships, make it feel like a snapshot of daily life in the 1500s. Next, look up engraving to see how artists like Huys carved these sharp lines into metal.
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