Episode 11: History of Prints | The Italians (Parmigianino)

In Episode 11, co-hosts Ann Shafer and Tru Ludwig talk about chiaroscuro woodcuts before moving on to the Mannerist painter and printmaker Parmigianino. Coming off the High Renaissance and the Sack of Rome in 1527, artists were looking for ways to shake it up. Out goes the solid forms and placid emotions and in comes the twisting, off-kilter compositions and extremes in emotions. Parmigianino is the first to really take up etching in a meaningful way (it's been engraving until this point--remember, Dürer tried etching but hated it). Tru makes the case for Parmigianino as a crucial creator. Ann becomes a fan.

Recent exhibition catalogue on chiaroscuro woodcuts:
Naoko Takahatake, ed. The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Munich and New York: DelMonico Books/Prestel, 2018.

General history of prints by Linda Hults:
Linda Hults. The Print in the Western World: An Introductory History. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996.