Destruction of a Convent, plate six from The Miseries of War
1633
Medium
Etching on paper
Dimensions
Plate: 8.2 × 18.6 cm (3 1/4 × 7 3/8 in.); Sheet: 12 × 22.4 cm (4 3/4 × 8 7/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
23095
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Inscribed: Here, in a sacrilegious and barbarous action, these maddened, avaricious demons pillage and burn everything, demolishing the altars, laugh at the respect due to the Immortals, and drag from the holy places the disconsolate virgins, whom they dare to carry off to be violated.
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...