{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O154972"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O154972/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BV6425/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BV6425/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2008BV6425","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JV6769","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O154972/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O154972","accessionNumber":"E.4621-1910","objectType":"Print","titles":[{"title":"Portrait of Desiderius Erasmus","type":"popular title"}],"summaryDescription":"Albrecht Dürer produced many portraits which were either drawn or painted, but made comparatively few printed portraits. His subjects were his friends and associates but also leading figures in politics, religion, science and the arts as well as key figures involved in the Reformation. Some of these portraits were for private use while some were designed from the outset for public display. By the time he produced this print Dürer was an accomplished master of engraving.\r\n\r\nThis portrait of Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536), the Dutch theologian and humanist who was famous for his published correspondence, was made in 1526. Dürer's unusually detailed engraving shows Erasmus writing a letter with a reed pen. The book in the foreground is probably the 'Adagia', his compilation of proverbs reconciling classical and Christian wisdom.  Dürer met Erasmus three times during a stay in the Netherlands in 1520-21 but did not produce this portrait until some years later, after Erasmus had expressed an interest in obtaining a portrait of himself by the artist. When Erasmus saw the print he complained that it was not a good likeness. However he allowed copies to circulate and probably distributed some as gifts.","physicalDescription":"Erasmus is standing to the right of the image, facing towards the left, at a table on which is a writing desk. He is writing a letter. On the table next to the writing desk is a folded letter and a vase containing lily of the valley and other flowers. At the back of the image is a frame with an inscription in Latin and Greek with the artist's monogram below. In the foreground is an open book, possibly Erasmus's 'Adagia' and to the right several closed books.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Dürer, Albrecht","id":"A3836"},"association":{"text":"engraver","id":"x30813"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"laid paper","id":"AAT14184"},{"text":"printing ink","id":"AAT187371"}],"techniques":[{"text":"engraving (printing process)","id":"AAT53225"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Engraving on laid paper","categories":[{"text":"Prints","id":"THES48903"},{"text":"Portraits","id":"THES48906"},{"text":"Images Online","id":"THES48937"}],"styles":[{"text":"Renaissance","id":"AAT21140"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2008BV6425","2017JV6769"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"64 (VA)","id":"THES49735"},"free":"","case":"SS","shelf":"1","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"print","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Nuremberg","id":"x29057"},"association":{"text":"engraved","id":"AAT53829"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1526","earliest":"1526-01-01","latest":"1526-12-31"},"association":{"text":"engraved","id":"AAT53829"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"E.2659-1934","id":"O1078335"},"association":"Copy"}],"creditLine":"Salting Bequest","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"24.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"cut to","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"19","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"IMAGO . ERASMI . ROTERODA\r\nMI . AB . ALBERTO . DVRERO . AD\r\nVIVAM . EFFIGIEM . DELINIATA .","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"The Likeness of Erasmus of Rotterdam, Done by Albrecht Dürer from Life.","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Translation from the Illustrated Bartsch; Albrecht Dürer; Volume 10 (Commentary); page 238; edited by Walter L.Strauss; Abaris Books, New York;  1981"},{"content":"TH.R","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Collectors' mark of E. Th. Rodenacker (ca 1840-before 1894) on the reverse of the print. The 'H' is smaller than the 'T' and 'R'.\r\n\r\nErnst Theodor Rodenacker belonged to an ancient family of shipowners from Danzig. He owned a collection of prints for which an unpublished catalogue was edited in Danzig after his death in October 1894 (694 prints of the German and Dutch school ranging from the 16th to the 19th century). He had a beautiful series of prints by Beham, Dürer, van Dyck and Rembrandt, which were bought by Rodenacker from P. & D. Colnaghi, London....\r\n\r\n(Translation from 'Marques de Collections'; Frits Lugt; published San Francisco, Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 1975, facsimile edition of the original 1921 volume)"},{"content":"Watermark of a Coat of Arms with L and attached b, crowned.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Closest to Briquet 8288 in which he dates the watermark 1512; 'Les Filigranes, Dictionnaire des historique marques du papier'' Volume 3, L-O; by C.M. Briquet; 1907."},{"content":"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"His Writings Present a Better Picture of the Man than this Portrait","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Inscription is in Greek. It is not currently possible to enter Greek characters into CIS. This will be possible when CIS is linked to Unicode software later this year."},{"content":". MDXXVI .","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"1526","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""},{"content":"AD","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"Albrecht Dürer","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Artist's monogram"}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"Dürer met Erasmus of Rotterdam (1467-1536) on at least two occasions during his visit to the Low Countries 1520/21, and sketched his likeness. After receiving Dürer's engravings of Pirckheimer, he repeatedly asked Dürer to do the same for him. In the end, he wrote to Pirckheimer: 'I wonder how I shall show Dürer my gratitude, which he deserves eternally. It is not surprising that this picture does not correspond exactly to my appearance. I no longer look the same as five years ago.' The inscription reads: The Likeness of Erasmus of Rotterdam, Done by Albrecht Dürer from Life [Latin] - His Writings Present a Better Picture of the Man than this Portrait [Greek] /MDXXVI/AD.' The likeness is in all probability based on Erasmus's portrait medal designed by Quentin Massys.\r\n(From 'The Illustrated Bartsch - Albrecht Dürer; Volume 10 (Commentary) page 238).\r\n\r\nTogether with his portrait of Melanchthon, cat. no.166, which was engraved in the same year, this is the last of Dürer's printed portraits as well as being the most elaborate. Dürer met the great humanist Desiderius Erasmus (1467-1536) three times during his stay in the Netherlands in 1520-21 (see Conway, pp.98, 102, 114). On these occasions Erasmus had given Dürer a Spanish 'mantilla' and three portraits while Dürer had presented Erasmus with a set of the 'Engraved Passions' (cat. nos 116, 215) and had drawn his portrait 'once again' (probably the charcoal portait dated 1520, in the Louvre, Strauss 1520/16, which does not relate to this print). Erasmus expressed his interest in obtaining a portrait from Dürer in correspondence with Pirckheimer in 1523 and 1525, but several months elapsed before Dürer produced it. Its formal appearance is emphasized by the two inscriptions on it, one in Latin, 'Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam, drawn from life by Albrecht Dürer', and the other underneath in Greek, which states that the writings of Erasmus will show a better portrait than the print.\r\n(From 'Albrecht Dürer and His Legacy - The Graphic Work of a Renaissance Artist' by Giulia Bartram, The British Museum Press, 2002)","briefDescription":"Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam by Albrecht Dürer; engraving; 1526","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"The Illustrated Bartsch; Volume 10; .107; pg 238"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Le Peintre Graveur; Adam Bartsch; Vol. VII; B.107"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"'Albrecht Durer and his Legacy, The Graphic Work of a Renaissance Artist'; Giulia Bartrum with contributions by Gunter Grass, Joseph L. Koerner and Ute Kuhlemann; The British Museum Press; 2002"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"'German Renaissance Prints - 1490-1550', Giulia Bartram; British Museum Press; 1995"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"'The face is familiar: German Renaissance portrait multiples in prints and medals'; Larry Silver; Word & Image, Vol.19, Nos.1&2, January-June 2003"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Strauss, Walter L., ed. <u>The Illustrated Bartsch 10 (Commentary): Sixteenth Century German Artists, Albrecht Dürer</u>. New York: Abaris Books, 1980. 328 p., ill. ISBN 089835000X. No.84, pp.187-189."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Heller, Joseph. <u>Das Leben und die Werke Albrecht Dürer</u>. Bamberg: 1827. Vols. 2 & 3 (vol. 1 was not published). No.963."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Meder, Joseph. <u>Dürer-Katalog: Ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen<u/>. Vienna, 1932. No.85."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Dodgson, Campbell. <u>Albrecht Dürer, Numerical Catalogue of the Engravings, Etchings, Dry-Points with Technical Details</u>. London 1926. No.17."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Tietze, Hans and Erika Tietze-Conrat. <u>Kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke Albrecht Dürers</u>. Vol. 1, Augsburg 1928; vol.2, Basel and Leipzig 1937; vol.3, Basel and Leipzig, 1938. No.184."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Panofsky, Erwin. <u>Albrecht Dürer</u>. Princeton 1943. (Addenda in the editions of 1945 and 1948). No.191."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Strauss, W.L. <u>The Intaglio Prints of Albrecht Dürer </u>. New York, 1977."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<u>Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design, Accessions 1910</u>, London, Printed for His Majesty’s Stationery Office 1911"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Erasmus, Desiderius","id":"N4270"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"Lily of the Valley","id":"x37385"},{"text":"books","id":"AAT28051"},{"text":"writing desks","id":"AAT39427"},{"text":"vases","id":"AAT132254"},{"text":"letters (correspondence)","id":"AAT26879"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"scholarship","id":"x40259"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":["Adagia"],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"TWO PORTRAITS OF ERASMUS [print and medal]\r\n\r\nThe Dutch theologian and humanist Desiderius Erasmus was famous for his published correspondence. Dürer's unusually detailed engraving shows him writing a letter with a reed pen. The book in the foreground is probably the 'Adagia', Erasmus's compliation of proverbs reconciling classical and Christian wisdom. Despite all this, Erasmus complained that Dürer had not portrayed him faithfully. Metsys's medal [4613-1858], however, met with his approval. Erasmus allowed copies to circulate and probabaly distributed some as gifts.\r\n\r\nPrint\r\nDated 1526\r\n\r\nAlbrecht Dürer (1471-1528)\r\nGermany, Nuremberg\r\nEngraving [on paper]\r\n\r\nSigned [Lettered] with the artist's\r\nmonogram 'AD'\r\n\r\nInscribed in Latin, 'The portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam\r\ndrawn from life by Albrecht Dürer'; in Greek, 'His writings give\r\na better picture'\r\n\r\nSalting Bequest\r\n\r\nMuseum no. E.4621-1910","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["E.4621-1910"],"accessionNumberNum":"4621","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":1910,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Le Peintre-Graveur","id":"THES50256"},"number":"B.107"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LN8436","2019LP1181","2019LR6686","2019LW7206"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-12-17","recordCreationDate":"2008-05-20","availableToBook":false}}