Frontispiece, from the New Testament
1635
Medium
Etching on paper
Dimensions
Plate: 6.3 × 8.5 cm (2 1/2 × 3 3/8 in.); Sheet: 6.7 × 8.9 cm (2 11/16 × 3 9/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
80572
Art Historical Context
Jacques Callot, a masterful French printmaker of the Baroque era (1592–1635), created this intricate *Frontispiece, from the New Testament* in 1635, the very year of his death. As a frontispiece—an ornamental title page for a printed book—this small etching (just 6.3 × 8.5 cm on the plate) served as an inviting gateway to the sacred text, likely featuring symbolic religious imagery to inspire devotion amid the turmoil of Europe's Thirty Years' War. Callot's etching technique shines here: he drew fine lines into a metal plate with a needle, then submerged it in acid to "bite" the grooves, inki...
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...