L'Enrolement des Troupes (The Enlistment of Troops), from Les Misères et les Mal-Heures de la Guerre (The Miseries and Misfortunes of War), plate 2
Medium
Etching; second state of three (Lieure)
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 3/16 x 8 3/8 in. (10.6 x 21.2 cm) Plate: 3 1/4 x 7 3/8 in. (8.2 x 18.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1922
Accession Number
22.68.5
Art Historical Context
Jacques Callot's etching *L'Enrolement des Troupes* (The Enlistment of Troops), plate 2 from renowned series *Les Misères les Mal-Heures de Guerre* (The Mis and Misfortunes of), dates to 1633 and was published in collaboration with Israël Henriet This second state of three (per Lieure's catalog) measures a compact 3¼ x 7⅜ inches on the plate yet brims with chaotic energy. It depicts recruiters herding reluctant civilians—farmers, artisans, and vagrants—into military service, their faces etched with dread and resignation. Created amid the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), a cataclysmic conflict t...
About the Artist
Jacques Callot|Israël Henriet · 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...