Diogenes, seated before his barrel, reading from a book, a plucked hen standing behind him at right

Ugo da Carpi|Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola)

ca. 1527–30 · Chiaroscuro woodcut printed from four blocks in gray-green ink · Drawings and Prints

Diogenes, seated before his barrel, reading from a book, a plucked hen standing behind him at right — Ugo da Carpi|Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola)

Ugo da Carpi was the first Italian artist to experiment with a multiblock woodcut technique known as chiaroscuro. The method requires a different block for each shade; the blocks are inked and printed one over the other to create the composition. In this remarkable example of the medium, the artist creates form through areas of tone. Ugo seems to have drawn inspiration from the wash drawings of Parmigianino, with whom he may have collaborated. The print shows the Greek philosopher Diogenes immersed in his studies. The chicken at right is a reference to his mocking response to Plato’s definition of man as a featherless biped: Diogenes is said to have presented a plucked chicken, saying, “Here is Plato’s man!”

Artist: Ugo da Carpi|Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola)
Date: ca. 1527–30
Medium: Chiaroscuro woodcut printed from four blocks in gray-green ink
Department: Drawings and Prints
Credit line: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1917

Diogenes, seated before his barrel, reading from a book, a plucked hen standing behind him at right

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