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Ugo da Carpi

Diogenes

before 1527
Chiaroscuro woodcut from three blocks on ivory laid paper
46 × 34.1 cm (18.1 × 13.4 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

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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