id: 107806 accession number: 1925.443 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1925.443 updated: 2023-08-23 19:15:16.882000 Hercules Driving Envy from the Temple of the Muses, 1522–24. Ugo da Carpi (Italian, c. 1479–c. 1532), after Balthasar Peruzzi (Italian, 1481–1536). Chiaroscuro woodcut (in black and gray); sheet: 29.5 x 22.5 cm (11 5/8 x 8 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Ralph King 1925.443 title: Hercules Driving Envy from the Temple of the Muses title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1522–24 creation date earliest: 1522 creation date latest: 1524 current location: creditline: Gift of Ralph King copyright: --- culture: Italy, 16th century technique: chiaroscuro woodcut (in black and gray) department: Prints collection: PR - Chiaroscuro type: Print find spot: catalogue raisonne: Bartsch 12 (XII.133) --- CREATORS * Ugo da Carpi (Italian, c. 1479–c. 1532) - artist Born in Carpi (modern-day province of Modena) in ca. 1468/70, Ugo da Carpi was the first Italian chiaroscuro woodcut designer. Active in Venice from around 1509, he produced several woodcuts from small book illustrations to monumental multi-block prints. Concerned with issues relating to authenticity, Ugo usually signed his works, an uncommon practice at that time. In 1516, he petitioned the Venetian Senate for the privilege of having invented the technique of chiaroscuro woodcut. however, it is likely that Ugo developed his method upon seeing earlier German examples. In his prints, Ugo abandoned the traditional cross-hatching manner in favor of the use of tone blocks. In 1516-18, Ugo moved to Rome and executed the majority of his chiaroscuro woodcuts after designs by Raphael and through the intermediary of engravings by Marcantonio Raimondi and Agostino Veneziano. After the sack of Rome in 1527, Ugo settled in Bologna where he collaborated with Parmigianino, before dying in 1532. * Balthasar Peruzzi (Italian, 1481–1536) - artist Baldassarre Peruzzi (1481-1536) was a painter, architect, and a prolific draftsman from Siena. He worked in Rome in contact with Raphael's circle from 1503 until the sack of the city in 1527. --- measurements: Sheet: 29.5 x 22.5 cm (11 5/8 x 8 7/8 in.) state of the work: ii/ii edition of the work: support materials: description: beige(1) laid paper watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: lower left, in block: ·BAL·SEN· translation: remark: inscription: lower right, in block: PERVGO translation: remark: inscription: verso, upper right, in pen and brown ink: 2--6 translation: remark: inscription: lower right, in graphite: WO / 2119 / V[underlined] L4[?] translation: remark: inscription: lower right, pen and brown ink: B[the remainder of the word is illegible] translation: remark: inscription: scattered across sheet, graphite and pen and brown ink: [illegible marks] translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Printing in Color opening date: 1985-09-10T04:00:00 Printing in Color. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-November 17, 1985). title: Mannerism: Italian, French, and Netherlandish Prints, 1520-1620 opening date: 1997-08-03T00:00:00 Mannerism: Italian, French, and Netherlandish Prints, 1520-1620. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 3-October 26, 1997). title: Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection opening date: 2003-08-17T00:00:00 Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 17-November 9, 2003). title: Gods and Heroes: Ancient Legends in Renaissance Art opening date: 2017-08-26T04:00:00 Gods and Heroes: Ancient Legends in Renaissance Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-December 31, 2017). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Ralph King [1855-1926], Cleveland Heights, OH date: ?-1925 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: March 24, 1925 footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: There are two versions of the Hercules Driving Envy from the Temple of the Muses composition. The CMA chiaroscuro woodcut corresponds to version B, in which figures are modeled using less cross-hatching and more highlights in tone blocks. digital description: The term chiaroscuro combines the Italian words chiaro (light) and scuro (dark). Invented to emulate drawings with light and dark pigments on tinted paper, the printing technique uses multiple woodblocks to layer different tones of color. Here, Ugo da Carpi—the progenitor of the chiaroscuro woodcut in Italy—used two blocks in black and gray on a beige paper.

In this allegory, not linked to a particular myth, Hercules applies his brute force in the service of art and knowledge. Pointing toward the archway, Apollo banishes the vice of Avarice from the Temple of the Muses. A personification of greed, Avarice carries a hoard of treasure in her arms as Hercules, a character of virtuous strength, chases her out. Apollo sits next to the war goddess Athena, identified by her helmet, shield, and spear. Here she represents wisdom, and fulfills a civilizing role as patroness of the arts. wall description: In this allegory, not linked to a particular myth, Hercules applies his brute force in the service of art and knowledge. Pointing toward the archway, Apollo banishes the vice of Avarice from the Temple of the Muses. A personification of greed, Avarice carries a hoard of treasure in her arms as Hercules, a character of virtuous strength, chases her out. Apollo sits next to the war goddess Athena, identified by her helmet, shield, and spear. Here she represents wisdom, and fulfills a civilizing role as patroness of the arts. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1925.443/1925.443_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1925.443/1925.443_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1925.443/1925.443_full.tif