Combat at the Barrier
1627
Medium
etching on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 15.7 × 24.5 cm (6 3/16 × 9 5/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
R.L. Baumfeld Collection
Accession Number
1969.15.94
Art Historical Context
**Combat at the Barrier** (1627) is a dynamic etching by Jacques Callot a masterful French printmaker of the Baroque era renowned for his intricate depictions of daily life, festivals, and warfare. Created on laid paper and measuring just 15.7 × 24.5 cm, this intimate print captures the intensity of a staged combat event—a popular 17th-century spectacle where fighters clashed across a wooden barrier, blending chivalric tradition with theatrical flair. Produced during the turbulent decades leading into the Thirty Years', Callot's work reflects the era's fascination with martial pageantry amid E...
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...