PENCZ, Georg
(b. ca. 1500, Nürnberg, d. 1550, Nürnberg)

Desiderius Erasmus

1537
Wood, 59 x 46 cm
Royal Collection, London

Desiderius Erasmus (1467-1536) was the most celebrated humanist north of the Alps and in certain ways a pioneer of the Reformation. Using the philological methods pioneered by Italian humanists, he helped lay the groundwork for the historical-critical study of the past, especially in his studies of the Greek New Testament and the Church Fathers. His educational writings contributed to the replacement of the older scholastic curriculum by the new humanist emphasis on the classics.