My name is Kaia Haney and I am a senior from Duke University double majoring in Public Policy and Political Science and minoring in environmental science and policy. I love to spend time outdoors, travel, and eat good food!

2/20/21:

I have chosen Ugo Da Carpi. His article is currently a stub and contains information on a few of his works and a little information on his style, but not much else.

To add:

  • Confirm information about the frescoes
  • Attempt to find some information about his life and his training
  • Add more information about his work, his development and the method himself
  • Find out what happened to his technique after him and how it developed; other relevant people he inspired
  • Add details about some of his works

Bibliography:

Draft of Ugo da Carpi article:

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Ugo da Carpi (c. 1480 – c. 1532) was an Italian printmaker and painter. He is renowned for his stylistic contributions to chiacoscuro, a wood cutting technique involving the use of several wood blocks to make one print, each block cut to produce a different tone of the same color.[1] He was active between 1520 and 1532 in the cities of Venice, Rome and Bologna.[2]

Ugo trained as a type-founder and painter, although he was most likely either self-taught or taught by local painters.[2] He is the most well-known for his print-making, which was utilized to copy other 15th-century works. His name is well known because, in a break from the printing tradition, he signed his prints. He claims to be the first practitioner of chiacoscuro, requesting a patent from the Venetian senate in 1516 for his unique method, but it is probable that this method had been previously used by both German and Venetian artists.[3] However, he was eventually granted a copyright by the Vatican in 1518[3], the first papal privileges for prints.[4]

Bibliography

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Ugo was born around 1480 in the town of Carpi, although some scholars think he may have been born closer to 1470.[4] Although he is known today as Ugo da Carpi, "da Carpi" translates to "of Carpi" and refers to the town where he was born. He was likely known as Ugo Panico.[3] He was the son of Count Astofolo of Panico and lived a life of privilege.[4] Records suggest that he was more interested in managing the property he owned until the early 1500s, and it is unknown how he first entered the art industry.[4]

The first record of Ugo in the art industry is the record of his employment under printer and publisher in Benedetto Dolcibelli in Cortemaggiore in 1502. In 1503 he also signed a three year contract with Saccaccino Saccaccini to complete painting commissions around Carpi.[4]

 
Ugo da Carpi’s supplication for a patent for the chiaroscuro woodcut, 1516.

He worked in Venice from 1509 to 1517, mostly working with woodcutting for book illustrations, before moving to Rome, where there was a large print making circle. He settled in Rome near Raphael's studio and it is clear in his work that he was influenced by Raphael's style. Following the sack of Rome in 1527 he moved to Bologna,[3] where he may have run a workshop.[3]

Works

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One of his important early commissions was the Sacrifice of Abraham from the Venetian publisher Bernardino Benalius. It was a large black and white print on four joined sheets and it is thought to be designed by Ugo himself, containing clear stylistic elements borrowed from Dürer and Titian. It was following this first commission that he requested a patent for his technique.

Over the years his prints helped to translate and reproduce designs by numerous artists, including Raphael, Baldassare Peruzzi, Parmigianino and Marcantonio.[1] According to Vasari, Ugo da Carpi actually taught the print-making process to Parmigianino.[5]

 
Diogenes (c. 1524-29), chiaroscuro woodcut, after Parmigianino.

His best known engravings include "Diogenes", "Aeneas Fleeing Troy with Anchises and Ascanius", "Sybil" "Massacre of the Innocents."

 
Descent from the Cross

There is one painting known to be Ugo's work: the Saint Veronica Altarpiece.[6] Due to similarities between a sketch and the final product, it is was likely based off a sketch produced by Parmigianino. It was originally located in the old Saint Peter's and is thought to have been finished between 1524 and 1527.[6] Vasari reported Ugo painted this work using hands, due to the fact that Ugo signed the painting: ‘Per Vgo / da Carpi Intaiatore / fata senza / penello" or "Ugo da Carpi, woodcut engraver, made without the brush."[6] He did in fact use brushes in this painting, but there is also evidence that at times he resorted to using his fingers and fingernails.[6]

Style

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Ugo's early works (1516-1517) were mostly created using the traditional two block technique. When working with two blocks, Ugo began by carving the design in the key block and using the tone block for highlights, but overtime he began to use the tone block more in the design.[4] He was working with three and four blocks by 1518. In three different prints of Hercules over the course of 1515, his stylistic development is apparent; he uses increasingly flexible lines and more complex and nuanced shading.[3] As he transitioned to working with 3 and 4 blocks he explored different techniques. These included distributing designs over blocks in a variety of ways, and working to model forms through nuanced use of different tone instead of the more traditional hatching.[4]

Ugo's own printings of his wood cuts use a distinctive palette of soft blues and greens. However, his striking Diogenses carving was printed in green and gold.[3]

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Ugo da Carpi." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.
  2. ^ a b Challis, Kate. "Ugo da Carpi". The Oxford Companion to Western Art.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Johnson, Jan (March 31, 2000). "Carpi [Panico], Ugo da". Oxford Art Online. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Takahatake, Naoko (2010). "Ugo Da Carpi". Print Quarterly. 27 (3): 317–321. JSTOR 43746984 – via JSTOR.
  5. ^ Trotter, William Henry (1974). "Chiaroscuro Woodcuts of the Circles of Raphael and Parmigianino: A Study in Reproductive Graphics". ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. ProQuest 302718526 – via ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.
  6. ^ a b c d Blackwood, Nicole (2013). "Printmaker as Painter: Looking Closely at Ugo da Carpi's Saint Veronica Altarpiec". Oxford Art Journal. 36 (2): 167–184. doi:10.1093/oxartj/kct015.