Editing Erasmus (section)

=== Signet ring and personal motto ===
[[File:Petschaft Erasmus von Rotterdam Amerbach Kabinett HMB 1893-364 c7499.jpg|thumb|Signet rings of Erasmus of Rotterdam: Amerbach Kabinett]]
Erasmus chose the Roman god of borders and boundaries [[Terminus (god)|Terminus]] as a personal symbol<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Stein|first=Wilhelm|title=Holbein der Jüngere|publisher=Julius Bard Verlag|year=1929|location=Berlin|pages=78–79|language=de}}</ref> and had a [[Seal (emblem)|signet ring]] with a [[Herm (sculpture)|herm]] he thought depicted Terminus carved into a [[carnelian]].<ref name=":0" /> The herm was presented to him in Rome by his student [[Alexander Stewart (archbishop of St Andrews)|Alexander Stewart]] and in reality depicted the Greek god [[Dionysus]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Stein|first=Wilhelm|title=Holbein der Jüngere|publisher=Julius Bard Verlag|year=1929|location=Berlin|pages=78–79}}</ref> The ring was also depicted in a portrait of his by the Flemish painter [[Quentin Matsys]].<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Hans Holbein the Younger. Terminus, the Device of Erasmus (1532).jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|Painting of Erasmus as [[Terminus (god)|Terminus]] by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2018-10-31|title=Terminus, the Device of Erasmus|url=https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.166|access-date=2022-01-09|website=[[Cleveland Museum of Art]]|language=en}}</ref>]]
The herm became part of the Erasmus branding at Froben, and is on his tombstone.<ref name=panofsky/>{{rp|215}} In the early 1530s, Erasmus was portrayed as Terminus by Hans Holbein the Younger.<ref name=":1" />

The diamond ring Erasmus wears in the famous Holbein portrait was a gift from his long-time friend and corespondent, Cardinal [[Lorenzo Campeggio]], as a "memorial of our friendship" ("''amicitiae nostrae'' noμνημόσυνον").<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bomford |first1=Kate |title=Friendship and immortality: Holbein's "Ambassadors" revisited |journal=Renaissance Studies |date=2004 |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=544–581 |doi=10.1111/j.1477-4658.2004.00077.x |jstor=24413498 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24413498 |access-date=14 April 2025 |issn=0269-1213}}</ref>
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[[File:Quinten Metsys (Massijs), bronze medal of 105 mm, commissioned in 1519 by Desiderius Erasmus.jpg|thumb|Quinten Metsys (Massijs), medal commissioned by Desiderius Erasmus. 1519, bronze, 105 mm]]
He chose ''{{lang|la|Concedo Nulli}}'' (Lat. ''I concede to no-one'') as his personal motto.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date=2018-10-31 |title=Terminus, the Device of Erasmus |url=https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.166 |access-date=2022-01-09 |website=[[Cleveland Museum of Art]] |language=en}}</ref> The obverse of the medal by Quintin Matsys featured the Terminus herm. Mottoes on medals, along the circumference, included "A better picture of Erasmus is shown in his writing",<ref>{{cite book |last1=Papy |first1=Jan |title=Erasmus, Europe and Cosmopolitanism: the Humanist Image and Message in his Letters |url=https://www.academia.edu/9168088}}</ref> and "Contemplate the end of a long life" and [[Horace]]'s "Death is the ultimate boundary of things,"<ref name=panofsky>{{cite journal |last1=Panofsky |first1=Erwin |title=Erasmus and the Visual Arts |journal=Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes |date=1969 |volume=32 |pages=200–227 |doi=10.2307/750613 |jstor=750613 |s2cid=192267401  |issn=0075-4390}}</ref>{{rp|215}} which re-casts the motto as a ''[[memento mori]]''. There were anachronistic claims that his motto was a favourable nod to Luther's "[[Diet_of_Worms#Martin_Luther|Here I stand]]" which Erasmus denied.<ref name=Petneházi />