Revenge of the villagers

Plate 5: countrymen attacking soldiers on a village square.

Etchiing, 1632/5 circa, from the "Les petites misères de la guerre".

Example in the second state of two, with the address of publisher Israel Henriet, dated 1636 in the title.

The series consists of six incisions on the title page, engraved by Abraham Bosse. The works chronologically precede the series masterful "Great miseries of war", composed of 18 plates.

Etching, magnificent proof, printed on contemporary laid paper, with thin margins or trimmed with copper, laid down on antique mounting, in good condition.

In the first half of the 17th century, Jacques Callot renewed the language of graphic art by developing and enhancing the potential of etching. Born in Nancy in 1592, he completed his artistic training in Italy, staying in Rome between 1608 and 1611, were he learned to engrave with a burin and established his first contacts with the engraver community. His patron, between 1612 and 1620, was Cosimo II de' Medici, at whose court he earned great renown both as an engraver of refined skill and as a judge of taste and intelligence. The years of his Florentine sojourn were filled with works that cemented his fame. After Cosimo II's death in 1621, Callot returned to Nancy, where he received new illustrious patrons, including the Duke of Lorraine and the Infanta of Spain. His fame was finally cemented with the commission, received through Richelieu, to engrave The Siege of La Rochelle and the Île de Ré for the King of France, Louis XIII. In 1630, he began collaborating with the publisher Israel Henriet in Paris, who edited many of his works. For his inexhaustible inventiveness in subject matter, his technical expertise, and his attention to detail and the minuscule, Callot's work stands as a decisive benchmark for the entire development of European engraving.