Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch Renaissance Humanist, Antique Engraved Portrait

About this sheet

An original antique engraved portrait of Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch Renaissance humanist.

Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (circa 1466 to 1536) was the leading humanist scholar of the northern Renaissance, author of In Praise of Folly and editor of the Greek New Testament of 1516, and his portrait has been engraved again and again for five centuries.

Engraving was the principal medium of the printed portrait for three centuries. The image is cut into a metal plate, inked and printed under heavy pressure, and the engraver builds up the form of a face through the spacing and swelling of the lines, which is why a well engraved portrait rewards close looking.

This sheet comes from a gathering of portraits from across Europe and across two and a half centuries, in engraving, etching and lithography. Portrait prints have been collected in their own right since the eighteenth century, when James Granger's Biographical History of England of 1769 set off a fashion for illustrating books with portraits of the people named in them, and they are still collected today for the sitter, for the maker and for the face itself.

A single portrait frames well in a narrow moulding with a generous mat, and a group of them hung together, whether by period, by profession or simply by the strength of the faces, makes one of the most satisfying walls there is for a study, a library, a landing or a dining room.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, a few small spots and a faint smudge in the margins; the engraved portrait itself is clean and crisp.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.