Ugo da Carpi (c. 1450–1480 – c. 1523–1532) was an Italian printmaker active between 1502 and 1532 in the cities of Venice, Rome and Bologna.

[3] In 1509, records cite that his older brother carried out a land transaction for him, leading scholars to believe that Ugo left Carpi for Venice between 1503 and 1509.

[1] His first work as a carver was in 1502, when he signed a contract with the Modenese typographers Benedetto Dolcibelli and Niccolo Bissoli to carve characters and punches.

[3] In July 1516, Ugo requested a patent from the Venetian senate for what he claimed to be his unique chiaroscuro technique.

[3] Although Ugo was an early Italian practitioner of chiaroscuro, there is evidence that this method had been previously used by German and Venetian printers.

"[8] Although Ugo was focused on reproducing and replicating sketches, engravings, and prints by other artists while in Rome, he began to develop his own unique style.

[4] It is believed he may have run a workshop in Bologna due to the existence of numerous prints that are technically and stylistically similar to Ugo's work, yet also have some notable differences.

However, a few months later, a different document claimed Ugo was alive, indicating his family may have mistakenly thought he was dead.

In January 1532, Ugo was referenced in attendee records from his daughter’s baptism, but in October of that year he was again described as deceased.

[3] One of Ugo's important early commissions, about 1515, was the Sacrifice of Abraham from the Venetian publisher Bernardino Benalius.

[3] Over the years Ugo reproduced designs by numerous artists, including Raphael, Baldassare Peruzzi, and Parmigianino.

This is suggested by the variety of their sizes and the fact that they were printed on thick paper designed to sustain heavy wear.

Finally, as Landau describes it "There is no precedent for Ugo making what can only be called a powerful image from so weak a model.

Ugo substantially reduced these details, keeping the barrel, the fowl, the book, the movement and the swirling cloth.

[12] Parmigianino scholar Florence Kossof notes: "He has reduced and simplified Caraglio's wealth of detail but has managed to increase the sense of vigor and energy.

In Lives of the Artist, Vasari praises it as a “most beautiful print.”[11] The print consists of a sophisticated four block design and intricate carving.

This engraving is notable because Ugo reversed the composition of the initial painting, which speaks to his interpretive skills as a carver.

More recently, however, Peter Parshall has proposed that the woodcut represents the scene from The Odyssey in which Odysseus is finally reunited with his wife Penelope.

[14] The painting was placed on an altar directly below the chamber that housed the Veil of Veronica, one of the most important relics in Saint Peter's.

[14] The Veil of Veronica is one of the most famous achierpoita, or Christian relics which bear a likeness of Christ not made by human hand.

[14] It is still debated among scholars why Ugo, who was not a well-known or especially talented painter, was chosen to create the altar painting for such a famous relic.

[14] Scholars speculate that due to Ugo's lack of painting experience he used his fingers and fingernails to fix mistakes.

[14] In the chiaroscuro technique, multiple blocks were cut and inked with different colours so the resulting print resembles a pen-and-ink sketch.

Ugo utilized translucent inks in similar colours, which created nuanced and fluid transitions between one block and the next.

Diogenes grips a stick in his right hand, directing the viewers’ attention to an open book where the names of both the designer and the printmaker are inscribed.