Jacques Callot “Distribution of Rewards” Etching


Callot (1592—1633), a native of Nancy, France, trained in Florence, “taking up etching and introducing the technical innovation of using a very hard ground on the plate, thus making it possible to vary the thickness of the line, modeling it along its whole course with a dependable ground to work on, he became the first specialist virtuoso etcher … [this work provides] the first unromantic pictures of war, exposing its impersonal cruelty, casual violence, and senseless destruction his records of war-torture, rape, burning at the stake, the firing squad-are strikingly believable because he observed decorum, viewed events as dispassionately as only a Frenchman can, and made his figures move as delicately and precisely as deadly insects. Through his technical innovations and the excellence of his drawing he exerted an influence more profound than that of many greater artists”

One of a large collection of engraved plates (ca. 8.2 x 18.5 cm.; 3.50 by 7.50 Inches), numbered 2—18 (including the title plate as issued). Each plate trimmed closely, else a very good impression on-trimmed LAID paper.

Purchased recently from a Palm Beach Collection, Palm Beach Florida, formed in the 1950—60’s.