Beggar Woman with Pan
c. 1622
Medium
etching on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 13.9 × 8.8 cm (5 1/2 × 3 7/16 in.) sheet: 14.8 × 9.7 cm (5 13/16 × 3 13/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1949.5.300
Art Historical Context
Jacques Callot's *Beggar Woman with Pan created around 1622, captures the poignant reality of 17th-century European poverty through the intimate medium of etching on laid paper. This small, measuring just 13.9 × 8.8 cm on the plate, belongs to Callot's renowned *Beggars* seriesLes Gueux*), a of 25 etchings that humanize the marginalized with extraordinary empathy and detail. As a leading Baroque printmaker from Lorraine, France, Callot revolutionized etching techniques, employing a fine burin and multiple biting stages to achieve intricate cross-hatching and textures that convey both grit and ...
About the Artist
Jacques Callot · 1592–1635
Jacques Callot (1592–1635) was a French printmaker and draftsman from the Duchy of Lorraine, widely regarded as one of the first great artists to practice the graphic arts exclusively. His more than 1,400 etchings chronicled the breadth of 17th-century life, from Medici court festivities to the brutal realities of warfare. Callot revolutionized etching through technical innovations including the é...