Erasmus and the Age of Reformation Part 23

[121] Lit. 'not even the peeping of an a.s.s is safe.' This Greek proverb, used of those who go to law about trifles, refers to the story of a potter whose wares were smashed by a donkey in the workshop going to look out of the window. In court the potter, asked of what he complained, replied: 'Of the peeping of an a.s.s.' See Apuleius, _Met._ IX., 42.

LIST OF ILl.u.s.tRATIONS

I. PORTRAIT OF ERASMUS. By Quentin Metsys. 1517. Rome, Galleria Corsini.

_Facing p. 14_

One half of a diptych, the pendant being a portrait of Erasmus's friend, Pierre Gilles (Petrus Aegidius), town clerk of Antwerp. The diptych was sent to Sir Thomas More in London; the portrait of Gilles is now in the collection of the Earl of Radnor at Longford Castle.

II. VIEW OF ROTTERDAM at the beginning of the sixteenth century.

Contemporary engraving, hand-coloured. _Facing p. 15_

III. PORTRAIT BUST OF JOHN COLET, Dean of St. Paul's (1467-1519). By Pietro Torrigiano. St. Paul's School, Hammersmith, London. _Facing p.

30_

John Colet, a close friend of Erasmus (see pp. 30-1), founded St. Paul's School. The artist, a Florentine sculptor, was active in London for many years and is best known for his effigies on some of the royal tombs in Westminster Abbey. The attribution of this bust is due to F. Grossmann (_Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Inst.i.tutes_, XIII, July 1950), who identified it as a cast from Torrigiano's original bust on Colet's tomb (destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666) and also pointed out that Holbein's drawing of Colet in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle (No.

12199) was made from the lost monument after Colet's death.

IV. PORTRAIT OF SIR THOMAS MORE (1477-1535). Dated 1527. By Hans Holbein. New York, Frick Collection. _Facing p. 31_

See also Holbein's drawing of Thomas More with his family, Pl. XXIX.

V. Pen and ink sketches by Erasmus. 1514. Basle, University Library (MS A. IX. 56). _Facing p. 46_

These doodles of grotesque heads and other scribbles are found in Erasmus's ma.n.u.script copy of the _Scholia to the Letters of St. Jerome_, preserved in the Library of Basle University and published by Emil Major (_Handzeichnungen des Erasmus von Rotterdam_, Basle, 1933). Erasmus worked on this ma.n.u.script shortly after his arrival in Basle in August 1514. His edition of the _Letters of Jerome_ was published by Froben in 1516 (see p. 90).

VI. A Ma.n.u.script Page of Erasmus. Basle, University Library. _Facing p.

47_

See note on Pl. V.

VII. t.i.tle-page of the _Adagia_, printed by Aldus Manutius in 1508.

_Facing p. 62_

The printing of this edition was supervised by Erasmus during his visit to Venice (see pp. 64-5). On this t.i.tle-page is the emblem of the Aldine Press, which is found again on the reverse of Aldus's portrait medal (Pl. IX).

VIII. VIEW OF VENICE, 1493. Woodcut. _After p. 62_

From Schedel's _Weltchronik_, Nuremberg, 1493.

IX. PORTRAIT MEDAL OF ALDUS MANUTIUS. By an unknown Venetian medallist.

Venice, Museo Correr. _After p. 62_

On the reverse, the emblem adopted by Aldus in 1495 from an antique coin, an anchor entwined by a dolphin. The Greek inscription, [Greek: Speude bradeos] (Hasten slowly), is also of antique origin. Cf. Hill, _Corpus of Italian Medals_, 1930, No. 536.

X. A page from the printed copy of the _Praise of Folly_ with a drawing by Hans Holbein. Basle, offentliche Kunstsammlung (Print Room). _Facing p. 63_

This copy of the _Laus Stult.i.tiae_, which Holbein decorated with marginal drawings in 1515, belonged at that time to Oswald Myconius, a friend of Froben's. Apparently not all the drawings in the book are by Hans Holbein.

The drawing shows Erasmus working at his desk, fol. S.3 recto. Above this thumbnail sketch there is a Latin note in the handwriting of Myconius: 'When Erasmus came here and saw this portrait, he exclaimed, "Heigh-ho, if Erasmus still looked like that, he would quickly find himself a wife!"'

XI. A page from the printed copy of the _Praise of Folly_ with a drawing by Hans Holbein. Basle, offentliche Kunstsammlung (Print Room). _Facing p. 78_

See note on Pl. X. This is the last page of the book, fol. X.4 recto; the drawing shows Folly descending from the pulpit at the close of her discourse.

XII. THE PRINTING PRESS OF JOSSE BADIUS. Woodcut by Albrecht Durer, 1520-1. _Facing p. 79_

Josse Badius of Brabant had established in Paris the Ascensian Press (named after his native place, a.s.sche); he printed many books by Erasmus. See pp. 60, 79-83.

XIII. PORTRAIT OF JOHANNES FROBEN (1460-1527). By Hans Holbein. About 1522-3. Hampton Court, H.M. The Queen. _Facing p. 86_

On this portrait of Erasmus's printer, publisher and friend, see Paul Ganz, _The Paintings of Hans Holbein_, 1950, Cat. No. 33.

XIV. DESIGN FOR THE PRINTER'S EMBLEM OF JOHANNES FROBEN. Tempera on canvas, heightened with gold. By Hans Holbein. 1523. Basle, offentliche Kunstsammlung (Print Room). _Facing p. 87_

The emblem shows the wand of Mercury, and two serpents with a dove, an allusion to the Gospel of St. Matthew, x. 16: 'Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.'

XV. THE HANDS OF ERASMUS. Drawing by Hans Holbein. 1523. Paris, Louvre.

_Facing p. 102_

These studies were used by Holbein for his portraits of Erasmus now at Longford Castle (Pl. XVI) and in the Louvre (Pl. XXVIII).

XVI. PORTRAIT OF ERASMUS AT THE AGE OF 57. Dated 1523. By Hans Holbein.

Longford Castle, Earl of Radnor. _Facing p. 103_

The Greek inscription, 'The Labours of Hercules', alludes to Erasmus's own view of his life (see p. 125). On this portrait see P. Ganz, op.

cit., Cat. No. 34.

XVII. VIEW OF BASLE. Woodcut. _Facing p. 134_

From the _Chronik_ by Johann Stumpf, 1548.

XVIII. t.i.tle-page of the New Testament, printed by Froben in 1520.

Designed by Hans Holbein. _Facing p. 135_

XIX. THE ERASMUS HOUSE AT ANDERLECHT NEAR BRUSSELS. _Facing p. 150_

From May to November 1521 Erasmus stayed here as the guest of his friend, the canon Pierre Wichmann. The house was built in 1515 under the sign of the Swan. It is now a museum in which are preserved numerous relics of Erasmus and his age.

XX. The Room used by Erasmus as study during his stay at Anderlecht.

_Facing p. 151_

XXI. PORTRAIT OF MARTIN LUTHER AS A MONK. Engraving by Lucas Cranach.

1520. _Facing p. 158_

XXII. PORTRAIT OF ULRICH VON HUTTEN (1488-1523). Anonymous German woodcut. _Facing p. 159_