Diogenes, seated before his barrel, reading from a book and with a plucked hen standing behind him at right
Ugo da Carpi Italian
After Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola) Italian
Not on view
In addition to making his own prints, the Mannerist artist Parmigianino collaborated with a number of professional printmakers to produce an important body of engravings and chiaroscuro woodcuts after his designs. The present print of the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes was executed by one of the great early pioneers of the chiaroscuro woodcut, Ugo da Carpi. In the hands of a few early blockcutters, the woodcut technique evolved from the use of one block, often printed in black, to the use of multiple, colored blocks to achieve maximum tonal effects. In this work, executed at the height of his career, Ugo made extensive use of four tone blocks to model form while minimally relying on line and hatching.
