(1592-1635)

Jacques Callot was a prodigious and prolific talent, who, in the space of some twenty-five years, produced over 1400 prints. He was also an unusual artist in that he designed and made his own plates (artists at this time would generally pass their designs to a specialist engraver for reproduction). The Miseries of War, as with most of Callot's work utilises the etching medium; in commercial terms this would allow for a greater speed of production than can be achieved with the laborious engraving process, and would help explain the sheer quantity of prints he was able to make during the course of his career ( many, as with The Miseries of War, measure only a few centimetres in width). Callot however, was also able, through the careful use of the échoppe (a tool that allowed him to etch lines which mimic the swelling and narrowing of line to be found in pure engraving) to replicate the nature of an engraved line. 

The inspiration for these works most probably came from the political situation in the Lorraine region, which deteriorated after the French army invaded in 1633, a victim of the Thirty Years War (1618-48). Within a few years the countryside of the region became a no-man's land, quickly passing from being one of the most prosperous regions of Europe to a land of famine.

The Miseries of War were published by Callot's friend Israel Henriet and were an instant success across Europe, with impressions being made from the original plates through to the nineteenth century. Callot began a  second series of smaller plates that were discovered in his studio after his death; it is not, however, clear if these preceded the larger set or were a sequel to them.

Copyright © Trustees of Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford.

Extract taken from Prints, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery .

Back to Artist