Art Institute of Chicago

Diogenes

Ugo da Carpi (Italian, c. 1480-1535)

Date

before 1527

Medium

Chiaroscuro woodcut from three blocks on ivory laid paper

Culture

Italy

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Renowned as one of the best prints of the sixteenth century, this masterpiece by the great woodcut artist not only reveals his absorption of Roman High Renaissance art but also paves the way for the dynamism of the Baroque. Diogenes, a fourth century B.C. Greek philosopher, chose the hardship of dwelling in a wooden tub, seen in the background. The plucked rooster reflects his ridicule of his contemporary, Plato, who defined man as a featherless biped.

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