Terminus, the Device of Erasmus

A CLOSER LOOK

The museum identifies this painting as oil on wood and credits Hans Holbein the Younger (German, active England and Switzerland, 1497/98–1543).

The museum's collection notes: In the spirit of the Italian Renaissance, Erasmus of Rotterdam (c. 1466–1536), the celebrated Dutch humanist and scholar, embraced ancient Greek and Roman literature and incorporated much of its moral and ethical messages into his own work. Holbein here conflates Erasmus’s features with Terminus, the Roman god of boundaries, who defied Jupiter by maintaining his position atop Capitoline Hill. Erasmus adopted Terminus, along with the motto concedo nulli (I concede to no one), as a personal symbol for devotion and steadfastness.