# Portrait Medal of Erasmus [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [MASSYS, Quentin]() - Date: 1451-1500 - Technique: Bronze, diameter 10,5 cm ## Commentary Two years after his painted portrait of Erasmus on wood, Massys created a portrait medal of Erasmus, cast in bronze. He softened the profile face by showing the cheek's slight slag and the hair pushed back over the ear. The viewer is warned by the mixed reek and Latin inscription that 'His writings will present a better image; portrait executed from life.' That is , the portrait shows an authentic likeness, yet his writings, which will endure longer, give a fuller picture of Erasmus. The reverse depicts Erasmus's symbol, the classical deity Terminus, motto CONCEDO NVLLI \('I yield to no one'\) and inscription 'Consider the end of a long life - death is the ultimate limit of things.' In the Web Gallery of Art you can view <A onclick="return OpenOther\('/cgi-bin/search.cgi?author=&title=erasmus&comment=&time=any&school=any&form=any&type=portrait&location='\)" HREF="/cgi-bin/search.cgi?author=&title=erasmus&comment=&time=any&school=any&form=any&type=portrait&location=">several portraits of Erasmus</A> by Renaissance painters, such as Hans Holbein the Younger, Albrecht Dürer and Quentin Massys. ## Related artworks - [Christ on the Cross with Donors \(detail\)]() - [Christ on the Cross with Donors]() - [Ecce Homo \(detail\)]() - [Ecce Homo \(detail\)]() - [Ecce Homo]() - [Ecce Homo]() - [Entombment]() - [John the Baptist and St Agnes]() - [Madonna of the Cherries \(detail\)]() - [Madonna of the Cherries]() - [Man with Glasses \(detail\)]() - [Man with Glasses]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()