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

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

Ugo da Carpi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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!”

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.