Erasmus wrote  Praise of Folly, (Encomium Moriae), at Thomas More's house in  1508. He dedicated it to More and published it in 1511. The drawings are by Han Holbein.

Preaching Fool

     Holbein presents Folly as a young woman wearing a fashionable dress with slit sleeves, preaching with eloquent gestures from a pulpit. Like the speaker, the congregation, who have made themselves comfortable in front of the pulpit, wear jester's caps. Thus Holbein (following Erasmus) makes clear that the listeners are themselves fools, as Folly will show with wit and irony in the course of her speech.

Exhorting Fool