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Girolamo Mocetto

The Calumny of Apelles

1500/1506
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
31.8 × 45.7 cm (12.5 × 18 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Although he probably never met Andrea Mantegna, the Venetian painter-engraver Girolamo Mocetto nevertheless based this print on a drawing (now in the British Museum, London) by the older artist. Later, Rembrandt also copied the same drawing, and may have owned it for a time. Mocetto altered the composition by placing the scene, an allegory of calumny (or false accusation), in the Campo de Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice, with Andrea del Verrocchio’s famous equestrian monument to Bartolomeo Colleoni in the background. This print is a unique early state before final shading was added to the basilica dome.

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