Peasant Woman with Basket, Facing Left
17th century
Medium
etching on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 13.9 × 8.9 cm (5 1/2 × 3 1/2 in.) sheet (irreg.): 15.5 × 10.4 cm (6 1/8 × 4 1/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
R.L. Baumfeld Collection
Accession Number
1969.15.179
Art Historical Context
This delicate etching, created in the 17th century by Israel Henriet after a design by Jacques Callot, captures the quiet dignity of everyday rural life. The subject—a peasant woman carrying a basket—reflects Callot’s well-known fascination with ordinary people, including beggars, vendors, and laborers, whom he portrayed with remarkable empathy and precision during the Baroque era. Etching on laid paper allowed artists like Callot and Henriet to achieve fine, expressive lines that brought movement and texture to small-scale prints. Measuring just under 14 centimeters in height, this work exem...