Title Page for Callot's "The Small Miseries of War"
1636
Medium
etching on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 5.8 × 12 cm (2 5/16 × 4 3/4 in.) sheet: 6.6 × 12.8 cm (2 5/8 × 5 1/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.656
Art Historical Context
Abraham Bosse's *Title Page for Callot "The Small Miseries War"* (1636) is a delicate etching on laid paper, measuring just 5.8 × 12 cm on the plate. Created as the introductory page for Jacques Callot's poignant series *Les Petites Misères la Guerre*, it captures the grim realities of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), a devastating European conflict that ravaged France and beyond. Bosse, a leading French printmaker known for his precise reproductive etchings and technical innovations, honored Callot's masterful depictions of soldiers' brutality, famine, and civilian suffering. This work hol...
About the Artist
Abraham Bosse · 1602–1676
Abraham Bosse (1604–1676) was a French printmaker and theorist whose approximately 1,600 etchings provide an unparalleled visual record of 17th-century French life. Born to Huguenot parents in Tours, he trained in Paris under Melchior Tavernier and became a devoted follower of Jacques Callot's technical innovations. Bosse's meticulous etchings depicted subjects ranging from daily life and fashion ...