Cleveland Museum of Art

Sibyl Reading with a Child Holding a Torch

Ugo da Carpi

Date

1518–27

Medium

chiaroscuro woodcut

Culture

Italy, 16th century

Department

Prints

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

As the innovator of the chiaroscuro process in Italy, Ugo's greatest achievement was the use of three- and four-tone blocks to simulate the subtleties of Raphael's ink wash drawings. Using woodcut, he duplicated the powerful contours, simplified forms, and spontaneous appearance of the Italian master's graphics. Here, the print shows a sitting Sybil who is reading a book to a child holding a torch to illuminate the room. The design for Sibyl Reading has been traditionally ascribed to Raphael based on the several sibylline figures (one of whom is accompanied by a putto holding a torch) in the master's decorations for the Capella Chigi, Santa Maria della Pace, Rome (1511–14), though there is no direct correspondence. The large number of surviving prints of this subject suggests it was one of the most repeated Italian chiaroscuro woodcut designs.

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