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Diogenes
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Diogenes was a Greek philosopher who lived during the 300s BC. The bird in the background alludes to his cynical response to Plato, who had described man as a featherless biped. Diogenes plucked a rooster and brought it to Plato’s school, exclaiming, “Here is Plato’s man!” Ugo da Carpi was influential in the development of the chiaroscuro woodcut in Italy. The term chiaroscuro combines the Italian words <em>chiaro</em> (light) and <em>scuro</em> (dark). Invented to emulate drawings with light and dark pigments on tinted paper, the printing technique uses multiple woodblocks to layer different tones of color. This example, considered a masterpiece of Renaissance printmaking, uses four shades of green to render tonal values; the paper provides the lightest color in the composition.
| Artist / Maker | Ugo da Carpi |
|---|---|
| Date | c. 1524–27 |
| Culture / Origin | Italy |
| Medium | chiaroscuro woodcut (in four shades of green) |
| Dimensions | Sheet: 47.7 x 34.7 cm (18 3/4 x 13 11/16 in.) |
| Department | Prints |
| Type |
About the Artist
Born in Carpi (modern-day province of Modena) in ca. 1468/70, Ugo da Carpi was the first Italian chiaroscuro woodcut designer. Active in Venice from around 1509, he produced several woodcuts from small book illustrations to monumental multi-block prints. Concerned with issues relating to authenticity, Ugo usually signed his works, an uncommon practice at that time. In 1516, he petitioned the Venetian Senate for the privilege of having invented the technique of chiaroscuro woodcut. however, it is likely that Ugo developed… Full biography →
Provenance & Source
Image & data: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 / Public Domain.
Condition
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