# Peter Gillis [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [MASSYS, Quentin]() - Date: 1451-1500 - Technique: Oil on panel, 51 x 44 cm ## Commentary Massys painted likenesses of Erasmus of Rotterdam, Europe's foremost humanist, and Peter Gillis, an author and translator,, holding the high position of town clerk in Antwerp, to Thomas More, England's most famous author. In this portrait, the seated Gillis is surrounded by Erasmus's writings. He embodies the humanist active in civic affaires; his wooden sandbox, alluding to his clerkship, fur-trimmed robe and covered drinking vessel discreetly indicates his worldly success. ## 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]()