Les Deux Turcs Coiffés d'un Turban Avec un Aigrette (Two Turks Wearing Turbans with an Egret Feather), from Varie Figure (Various Figures)
ca. 1620
Medium
Etching; first state of three (Lieure)
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 in. (8.9 x 8.9 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
57.650.373(14)
Art Historical Context
Jacques Callot, a masterful French etcher of the Baroque era, captured the exotic allure of distant cultures in *Les Deux Turcs Coés d'un Turban un Aigrette* ( Turks Wearing Turbans with an Egret Feather), from series *Varie Figure (Various Figures), around 1620. This tiny, measuring just 3½ x 3½ inches, showcases Callot's extraordinary skill in rendering intricate details on a miniature scale. As the first state of three (per Lieure cataloguing), it preserves the artist's purest lines before later editions added refinements, offering a pristine glimpse into his innovative process. Etching al...
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...