Le Paysan Frappant son Ane (The Peasant Striking his Donkey), from Lux Claustri ou La Lumière du Cloitre (The Light of the Cloisters), plate 25
Medium
Etching and letterpress; second state of two (Lieure)
Dimensions
Sheet: 5 9/16 x 4 3/16 in. (14.2 x 10.6 cm) Plate: 2 1/4 x 3 3/16 in. (5.7 x 8.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Edwin De T. Bechtel, 1957
Accession Number
57.650.348(25)
Art Historical Context
In the intricate etching *Le Paysan Frapp son Ane (The Pe Striking his Donkey)*, plate 25 from Callot's *Lux Claustri ou Laière du Cloitre ( Light of the Cloisters, we witness a vivid moral tableau from 1621–35. Created by the masterful French printmaker Jacques Callot, with publication by François Langlois this work belongs to a series of emblematic prints blending religious devotion and everyday folly. The scene captures a peasant harshly beating his stubborn donkey, likely illustrating a proverbial lesson on futile anger or the folly of mistreating the lowly—common themes in 17th-century mo...