Peasant with Hat in Hand
Medium
woodcut on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to block): 6.1 × 8.5 cm (2 3/8 × 3 3/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
R.L. Baumfeld Collection
Accession Number
1969.15.208
Art Historical Context
In the intimate woodcut *Peasant with Hat in*, created in 1621 by Edouard Eck after the renowned French artist Jacques Callot, we encounter a humble figure from the margins of 17th-century society. Callot, a master printmaker of the Baroque era was celebrated for his intricate etchings depicting beggars, gypsies, and peasants—often drawn from life during his travels. This reproduction captures one such character, likely from Callot's influential *Beggar* series (*Gueux*), where the doffed hat suggests deference or a plea for alms, evoking the hardships of rural life amid Europe's tumultuous wa...
About the Artist
Edouard Eckman after Jacques Callot
Edouard Eckman, a Flemish printmaker born around 1600, remains a somewhat enigmatic figure in art history, with his early life not well documented. Little is known about his training or formal education, though his oeuvre suggests familiarity with the vibrant printmaking traditions of the early Baroque period in Northern Europe. Active primarily in the second decade of the seventeenth century, Eck...