Carl Jung
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Albrecht Dürer, Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam, engraving, 1526. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, RP-P-OB-1281 (Public Domain). Downscaled. · Engraving 'Imago Erasmi Roterodami ab Alberto Durero ad vivam effigiem deliniata' by Albrecht Dürer, dated MDXXVI (1526) and monogrammed AD, in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (object number RP-P-OB-1281). The plate's own lettering names the sitter and says the image was drawn from life; the file is the museum's full-image scan (original 2894 x 3736 pixels) downscaled to 929 x 1200 with no upscaling. · Public Domain Mark 1.0 on the museum's image and a CC0 right on the museum's record, as read live; the work is a 1526 engraving by an artist who died in 1528.
scholar · Early Modern
Desiderius Erasmus
1466–1536
Known For
literaryeducationalculturalhistorical
Not yet included in personality matching — the documented evidence doesn't yet cover enough of the personality model. Everything else on this page is fully available.
Trait Constellation
Key Achievements
Northern Europe's leading Renaissance humanist scholar, he published a Greek New Testament with his own Latin version and notes in 1516, the first to reach the market, and revised it four times.
Wrote bestsellers including the Adages, expanded to over 3,000 entries for the Aldine press, and the satire Praise of Folly (1511), which has stayed in print.
Edited works of Jerome, Augustine, Chrysostom and Origen, and promoted learned piety and a return to the texts in their original languages.
Moments That Reveal Them
The 1516 New Testament was put together in about ten months on his publisher Froben's urging, and the first edition carried hundreds of typesetting errors.
Consistent with working very fast under a publisher's pressure, at some cost to polish. Execution Speed
For some years he refused to endorse any religious party, and in 1524 he reluctantly published a polite discussion of free will aimed at Luther.
Consistent with holding an independent intellectual stance that drew suspicion from both sides. Independent Thinking
Turning Points
After his first stay in England he met More and Colet and set out to learn Greek, which turned him toward biblical scholarship and eventually the Greek New Testament.
Consistent with committing to deep mastery of a new language to pursue a scholarly aim. Mastery Orientation
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Sources
- Desiderius Erasmus (Q43499), verified live via the Wikidata API (2026-11-06): English label 'Erasmus', description 'Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and theologian (1466-1536)', Korean label 데시데리위스 에라스뮈스, born 28 October 1466 (other values 6 November 1466 and 1469 also listed), died 12 July 1536, country of citizenship the Seventeen Provinces. Orientation only; not used as support for any row.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 'Desiderius Erasmus' (first published 2017, substantive revision 2025; introduction, the life and works section and the methodology section read). CANONICAL SIGNIFICANCE SOURCE: Christian humanism and learned piety; the call 'ad fontes'; a pioneering Greek New Testament that shows text-critical principles; success in literature, education, religion and theology; bestsellers Praise of Folly, Adages, Handbook of the Christian Soldier; the 1516 edition was hastily assembled on his publisher Froben's urging from the manuscripts he could consult, praised by humanists and attacked by theologians; four revised editions (1519, 1522, 1527, 1531) with expanded notes; editions of Jerome, Augustine, Chrysostom and Origen, in many cases the first reliable critical text; for some years he refused to endorse any religious party and published the free-will Diatribe against Luther reluctantly in 1524; moved to Leuven then Basel, and in 1529 to Freiburg; works placed on the Index. Modern scholarly overview, balanced, with the critics' side stated.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Erasmus' (the freely visible first half read: life up to his Basel work on the 1516 New Testament and the revision that followed; the rest is behind a subscription wall and was not read). Calls him the greatest scholar of the northern Renaissance and the first editor of the New Testament; his independent stance made him a target of suspicion for partisans on both sides; he expanded the Adages into a work of over 3,000 entries for Aldus's press that first made him famous; Praise of Folly written in More's house; the conviction that 'ancient theology' required mastery of Greek; his own mistakes as a textual critic alongside a 'towering' place in the history of scholarship; conservative theologians at Leuven resisted. Reference article, admiring but notes his errors.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, eleventh edition (1911), 'Erasmus, Desiderius' by Mark Pattison and Percy Stafford Allen (Wikisource transcription, read in part: the Italy and Venice period, the Basel years, the polemics and the assessment). An older, critical historiography: he did the work of two men at Venice writing and correcting proof together; by pensions and gifts he could refuse offers that would have compromised his independence; his sarcasm and quarrels (including with Budé) drew exasperation, a contemporary calling him extremely thin-skinned; argues that his neutrality came from the reasonableness of his nature rather than timidity, while noting that opponents called him a trimmer; judges the Greek Testament to have no critical value as an edition yet profound influence because it was first and exposed Vulgate errors. Contradicts the modern view on the text's scholarly value.
- Museum of the Bible collection record 'Novum Instrumentum Omne, Erasmus's New Testament' (Basel: Froben, 1516; page read in full). Says he was the first to prepare a complete Greek New Testament for publication, presenting his own Latin translation and critical notes; the hurried work was done in just ten months and resulted in hundreds of typesetting errors; from the second edition onward it was titled Novum Testamentum. Museum catalogue entry, with a provenance history of the museum's copy.
- William Andrews Clark Memorial Library (UCLA), Tudor collection title-list entry 'Novum Instrumentum omne' (page read in full). In England he took Lord Mountjoy as pupil, met More and Colet, set about learning Greek and began a new Greek-to-Latin translation of the Gospels and Epistles; Colet lent manuscripts from St Paul's; he used four partial Greek manuscripts in Cambridge and five in Basel; the Complutensian Greek text was printed first (1514) but delayed until 1522 by papal privilege; his Greek text is clearly inferior to the Alcala text, but his reputation, priority in the market and low cost led to wide distribution and long-lasting influence on biblical scholarship. Library description, balanced on quality.
- Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, linked-art record for object RP-P-OB-1281, 'Portret van Erasmus' (Imago Erasmi Roterodami ab Alberto Durero ad vivam effigiem deliniata), engraving by Albrecht Dürer dated MDXXVI with monogram AD, 249 x 193 mm (record opened live; the museum states the date, title and monogram are engraved on the object and carries a Public Domain Mark and a CC0 right). Used for the portrait only, not as support for any row.