Mucius Scevola
1608
Medium
Chiaroscuro woodcut in greenish gray and black on cream laid paper
Dimensions
26.5 × 20.9 cm (10 7/16 × 8 1/4 in.)
Classification
chiaroscuro woodcut
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
108931
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The printmaker and publisher Andrea Andreani made several prints calling for over 40 blocks, including a lengthy classical frieze. He also acquired older blocks and republished them with his own initials. The present woodcut required two blocks—an abstract tone block and a linear key block in black printed on top of it to consolidate the image. This popular subject after Baldassare Peruzzi shows a legendary Roman hero, Mucius Scevela, who, upon being caught during an attempt to assassinate the E...