The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 24, 2024

Terminus, the Device of Erasmus

Terminus, the Device of Erasmus

c. 1532
(German, active England and Switzerland, 1497/98–1543)
Framed: 32.4 x 32.4 x 4.5 cm (12 3/4 x 12 3/4 x 1 3/4 in.); Unframed: 21.6 x 21.6 cm (8 1/2 x 8 1/2 in.)

Description

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.
  • Charlotte Frank (London, England)
    -1971
    Dr. and Mrs. Sherman Lee, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1971.
    1971-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Reproduced: p. 170; Mentioned: p. 169-172
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1971.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 59, no. 1 (1972). no. 52A, p. 42 www.jstor.org
    Holbein, Hans, and Hans Werner Grohn. L'opera pittorica completa di Holbein il giovane. Milano: Rizzoli, 1971.
    Rowlands, John. "Terminus, the Device of Erasmus of Rotterdam: A Painting by Holbein." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 67, no. 2 (1980): 50-54. Reproduced: p. 51; Mentioned: p. 50-54 www.jstor.org
    Fredericksen, B. B. (1982). E cosi desio me mena. The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal, 10. p. 30 www.jstor.org
    Rowlands, John, and Hans Holbein. Holbein: The Paintings of Hans Holbein the Younger. Oxford: Phaidon, 1985. p. 136, cat. no. 35, repr. pl. 67
    Jensma, Goffe. Erasmus, de actualiteit van zijn denken. Zutphen: De Walburg Pers, 1986. p. 176
    Holbein, Hans, and Hans Werner Grohn. Tout l'œuvre peint de Holbein le jeune. Paris: Flammarion, 1987. fig. 66, p. 99.
    Bätschmann, Oskar, and Pascal Griener. Hans Holbein. London: Reaktion Books, 1997. fig. 215, p. 157
    Klinger, D. M., Ambrosius Holbein, Hans Holbein, and Antje Höttler. Die Malerbrüder Ambrosius und Hans d.J. Holbein: Werkverzeichnis, Gemälde und Miniaturen. Cheb: H.B. Wilson, 1998. cat. no. 35, p. 149
    Martínez-Burgos García, Palma, and Bart Fransen. Erasmo en España: la recepción del humanismo en el primer Renacimiento español : Escuelas Menores de la Universidad de Salamanca, 26 de septiembre de 2002-6 de enero de 2003. Madrid: Sociedad Estatal para la Acción Cultural Exterior, 2002. p. 202
    Coelen, Peter van der, and Marjolijn Bol. Images of Erasmus. Rotterdam: Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, 2008. p. 69, fig. 14
    Bätschmann, Oskar and Pascal Griener. Hans Holbein. London: Reaktion Books, 2014. Reproduced: p. 230, fig. 228
  • Holbein: Capturing Character in the Renaissance. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (organizer) (October 18, 2021-January 9, 2022) https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/holbein/index.html; The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (February 11-May 15, 2022) https://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/holbein.
    Erasmus in Spain: Humanism in Spanish early Renaissance. Universidad de Salamanca, Escuelas Menores, Salamanca, Spain (September 25, 2002-January 6, 2003).
    Portraiture: The Image of the Individual. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1983-January 22, 1984).
    Year in Review: 1971. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1971-February 6, 1972).
  • {{cite web|title=Terminus, the Device of Erasmus|url=false|author=Hans Holbein the Younger|year=c. 1532|access-date=24 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.166