Il Capitano, or L'Innamorato
1618/1620
Medium
etching and engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 22.2 × 15.3 cm (8 3/4 × 6 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1946.21.229
Art Historical Context
Jacques Callot's *Il Capitano, or'Innamorato* (c. 1618–1620) captures the flamboyant spirit of Commedia'arte, Italy's lively improvised theater tradition that enchanted European audiences from the 16th onward. This etching and engraving depicts one of the stock characters—Il Capitano, the boastful soldier, or perhaps L'Innamorato, the lovesick suitor—frozen in a moment of exaggerated swagger. Working in Florence for the Medici court, Callot produced a renowned series of these prints, immortalizing the masked performers from traveling troupes who brought slapstick humor and satire to streets an...
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...