Allegory of a thesis, two women hold inscribed tablets

After Guido Reni Italian
1640
Not on view
This graphically powerful woodcut is the product of Reni and Coriolano’s collaborative explorations of chiaroscuro printing in Bologna in the 1630s. The print’s largely indecipherable iconography illustrates how enigmatic thesis print images can be when separated from their original accompanying texts. Two women surrounded by books hold inscribed tablets that together make the phrase "All is the same that harms the innocent."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Allegory of a thesis, two women hold inscribed tablets
  • Artist: Bartolomeo Coriolano (Italian, Bologna ca. 1599–ca. 1676 Bologna (?))
  • Artist: After Guido Reni (Italian, Bologna 1575–1642 Bologna)
  • Date: 1640
  • Medium: Chiaroscuro woodcut from two blocks printed and green (only state)
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 13 11/16 × 18 7/16 in. (34.8 × 46.8 cm)
    Image: 13 5/16 in. × 18 in. (33.8 × 45.7 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.50.21
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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