Skip to Content
Closed today, next open Thursday. Closed today, next open Thursday.

  • Mon 11–5
  • Tue–Wed Closed
  • Thu 11–8
  • Fri–Sun 11–5
  • The first hour of every day, 10–11 a.m., is reserved for member-only viewing.

The Calumny of Apelles

A work made of engraving in black on ivory laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

Image actions

  • A work made of engraving in black on ivory laid paper.

Date:

1572

Artist:

Cornelis Cort (Netherlandish, 1533/36-1578)
after Federico Zuccaro (Italian, c. 1542-1609)

About this artwork

Cornelis Cort’s engraving recreates a lost painting by the ancient Greek artist Apelles, an allegory of slander known only from a detailed description by the ancient historian Lucian. Renaissance artists including Sandro Botticelli, Andrea Mantegna, Albrecht Dürer, and even Pieter Brueghel produced drawings and paintings based on the historian Lucian’s descriptions in homage to various artists of antiquity. Dürer was even called “the Apelles of the North.” Cort’s engraving includes an illusionistic heavily sculptured frame, which highlights prints’ ability to mimic paintings as objects, as well as revive their iconography.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Cornelis Cort

Title

The Calumny of Apelles

Place

Holland (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1572

Medium

Engraving in black on ivory laid paper

Dimensions

Image: 40.8 × 55.6 cm (16 1/8 × 21 15/16 in.); Plate/sheet, trimmed slightly within platemark: 42 × 55.7 cm (16 9/16 × 21 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

Print and Drawing Fund and Stanley Field Endowment

Reference Number

1994.249

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/131389/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.
Learn more

Image actions

Share

Suggested Terms