Battle of the Naked Men (1517): Artwork and History

Battle of the Naked Men (1517) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Domenico Campagnola Italian, c. 1500-1564.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

In this battle scene, the landscape is just as important as the context. Deep shading created by the harsh, crosshatched lines reiterates the tumult of the battle. The sketchy engraving style of Domenico Campagnola underlines the vigorous and impulsive nature of his figures. Body proportions are distorted in order to connote pain. Even the barking dog at the lower left has an inaccurately elongated torso, a statement about the distress nature experiences during human conflict. This engraving is one of the artist’s largest.

Object facts

• Title: Battle of the Naked Men
• Date: 1517
• Artist attribution: Domenico Campagnola Italian, c. 1500-1564
• Place of origin: Italy
• Medium: Engraving on ivory laid paper
• Dimensions: 22 × 23 cm (8 11/16 × 9 1/16 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1956.1006

Collection credit

Bequest of Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.