CALLOT, JACQUES

Callot, Jacques: translation

(c. 1592-1635)

Leading figure of the school of Nancy on the Lorraine region of France. Callot came from a well-to-do family that was connected to the ducal court of Lorraine. He was apprenticed to a local goldsmith and, in 1608, he went toRometo complete his training with the engraver Philippe Thomassin. In 1611, Callot moved toFlorencewhere he worked for Cosimo II de'Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. For him he created a series of plates recording the funerary ceremonies of Margaret of Austria, wife of Philip III of Spain (d. 1611), and another of the life of Cosimo's father, Ferdinand I de' Medici. In 1621, when Cosimo died, his wife, Maria Magdalena of Austria, cancelled Callot's pension, forcing him to return to Nancy where he became the leading master of the Lorraine region. He spent the rest of his career creating engravings ofgrotesquefigures, gypsies, and other such colorful individuals, as well as landscapes and political scenes. An example of his comical representations is his etchingScaramucia and Fricasso(c. 1622), which depicts two characters from the commedia dell' arte (Italian theatrical farces) that Callot included in hisBalli di Sfessaniaseries. Examples of his political images are the scenes fromLes Grandes Misères de la Guerre(1633) that record the horrors caused by Cardinal Richelieu's invasion of Nancy.