Sibyl with a Child Holding a Torch / Ugo da Carpi / after Raphael
About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 2008/2.420
- Title
- Sibyl with a Child Holding a Torch
- Artist
- Ugo da Carpi
- Artist Nationality
- Italian
- Artist Life Dates
- ca. 1440 - after 1525
- Medium and Support
- chiaroscuro woodcut on beige laid paper
- Object Creation Place
- Europe (continent)
- Italy (nation)
- Lazio (region)
- Roma (province)
- Rome (inhabited place)
- Creation Place 1
- Europe (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- Italy (nation)
- Creation Place 3
- Lazio (region)
- Creation Place 4
- Roma (province)
- Creation Place 5
- Rome (inhabited place)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Ruth W. and Clarence J. Boldt, Jr.
- Style/Group/Movement
- Renaissance
- Dimensions
- 47.63 cm x 40.96 cm (18 3/4 in. x 16 1/8 in.)
- Century
- 16th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Primary Object Type
- chiaroscuro woodcut
- Physical Description
- A woman sits in an interior holding a book in her right arm, which is propped upon a ledge. She reads by the light of a torch held by a child standing next to her. Print trimmed to image frame. Image was previously folded at center (multiple folds). Paper size: lh 27 3/5cm & rh 27 4/5cm x tw 22 3/5cm bw 22 3/10cm.
- Subject Matter
- This tranquil scene shows a sibyl, an ancient prophetess, reading by torchlight. The print is the first attempt by the artist Ugo da Carpi at reproducing a drawing by Raphael in an innovative medium known as chiaroscuro woodcut. Developed in Germany in the first decade of the sixteenth century, chiaroscuro woodcuts were the earliest images printed in color, produced entirely from carved wooden blocks printed sequentially upon a single sheet of paper. The muted tonalities of chiaroscuro woodcuts sought to capture the modulated effects of light and shadow, known by the Italian term "chiaroscuro" (literally "light/dark"), qualities that were prized in contemporary pen, ink, and wash drawings. In his "Lives of the Artists," first published in 1550, Giorgio Vasari wrote that Raphael produced a drawing "in chiaroscuro" to serve as a model for this print. The combination of a bright torch in a dark room was an ideal subject for this initial collaborative foray by the Renaissance master and Ugo da Carpi into the medium of chiaroscuro woodcut.
- Primary Keywords
- books
- chiaroscuro woodcuts
- children (people by age group)
- prophets
- reading
- torches and torch holders
- women
- Secondary Keywords
- transfer method
- furnishings
- furnishings by form or function
- information artifacts
- information artifacts by physical form
- information forms
- lighting devices
- lighting devices by form
- objects we use
- people
- people (agents)
- people and culture
- people by activity
- people by age group
- people by gender
- physical activities
- physical activities by general context
- prints
- prints by process
- prints by process or technique
- relief prints
- visual works
- visual works by medium or technique
- woodcuts
- youth
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 3456 x 4200
- File Size
- 2 MB
- Record
- 2008/2.420
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2008-sl-2.420/2008_2_420.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
- In public portfolios
Cite this Item
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- Full citation
-
"Sibyl with a Child Holding a Torch; Ugo da Carpi; after Raphael." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2008-sl-2.420/2008_2_420.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 10, 2024.