CARPI, Ugo da, an Italian painter, of no very considerable talents in the art, but remarkable for being the inventor of that species of engraving on wood, distinguished by the name of chiaro-scuro, in imitation of drawing.
This is performed by using more blocks than one. Ugo da Carpi usually had three; the first for the outline and dark shadows, the second for the lighter shadows, and the third for the half tint. In this manner he struck off prints after several designs, and cartoons of Raphael, particularly one of the Sibyl, a Descent from the Cross, and the History of Simon the Sorcerer. He died in 1500. The art was brought to a still higher degree of perfection by Balthazar Peruzzi of Siena, and Parmigiano, who published several excellent designs in this manner.