Thus it came to pass that the printer Froben, at Basle, was one of the young Holbein's chief patrons.

We find him designing a wonderful series of illustrations of _The Dance of Death_, as well as drawing another set to illustrate _The Praise of Folly_, written by Erasmus, who was then living in Basle and frequenting the house of Froben.

Erasmus was a typical scholar of the sixteenth century, belonging rather to civilized society as a whole than to any one country.

He moved about Europe from one centre of learning to another, alike at home in educated circles in England, Flanders, and Germany.

He had lived for some time in England and knew that there were men there with wealth who would employ a good painter to paint their portraits if they could find one.