The Catafalque of the Emperor Mathias
17th century
Medium
etching and engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 28.5 × 20.2 cm (11 1/4 × 7 15/16 in.) sheet: 31 × 22 cm (12 3/16 × 8 11/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
R.L. Baumfeld Collection
Accession Number
1969.15.911
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
This intricate etching and engraving presents a grand interior hall with soaring arches, a coffered ceiling, and rows of columns draped in fabric. In the foreground, groups of figures in dark, period clothing gather and gesture toward the center, while a towering tiered catafalque rises in the distance, illuminated against the architectural backdrop. The scene conveys depth through precise linear perspective and fine hatching that models the stone surfaces and flowing garments. Produced in the 17th century after Jacques Callot, the print records the elaborate funeral ceremonies held
About the Artist
after Jacques Callot
**Jacques Callot (c. 1592–1635)**, the master whose designs inspired the works attributed "after Jacques Callot," was a pioneering French Baroque printmaker and draftsman born in Nancy, capital of the independent Duchy of Lorraine (now northeastern France). From a noble family—his father served as master of ceremonies and herald-at-arms to the Duke of Lorraine—young Callot was apprenticed to a gol...