Les Troupes Forcent la Porte d'une Ville (The Troops Force Their Way Through the Gate of a City), from La Vie de Ferdinand Ier de Médicis série appelée aussi Les Batailles des Médicis (The Life of Ferdinand I de'Medici also called The Medici Battles)
Medium
Engraving; first state of two (Lieure)
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 7/8 x 11 15/16 in. (22.5 x 30.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Harry G. Friedman, 1962
Accession Number
62.635.552
Art Historical Context
This engraving, created between 1614 and 1620, captures a dramatic moment of military action as troops storm through a city gate. It belongs to the series *The Life of Ferdinand I de’ Medici*, also known as *The Medici Battles*, which celebrates the Grand Duke’s military campaigns in defense of Tuscany. Jacques Callot, renowned for his precise and lively printmaking, likely worked from designs by Matteo Rosselli to translate the scene into this detailed engraving, one of two known states. Ferdinand I de’ Medici (1549–1609) strengthened Florence’s power through naval victories and strategic al...
About the Artist
Jacques Callot|Matteo Rosselli · 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...