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Email to FriendJacques Callot, Engraving, The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, c. 1634  |
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| Artist: | Callot, Jacques (1592 - 1635) |
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| Title: | The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, c. 1634 |
| Medium: | Engraving |
| Image Size: | 12 13/16 in x 6 1/3 in (32.7 cm x 16.1 cm) |
| Sheet Size: | 13 1/4 in x 7 in (33.7 cm x 17.8 cm) |
| Framed Size: | 31 in x 24 3/4 in (78.7 cm x 62.9 cm) |
| Signed: | Signed in the plate in the lower right 'Callot Jn' |
| Edition: | Printed on a fine laid paper with an unidentified flower and pitcher watermark; annotated 'P. Mariette le fils excud.' in the lower right. |
| Condition: | This work is in excellent condition. |
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Gallery Price
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Item# 3052
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| MFA SALE | 50% Off: $2,500 |
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Filled with suspense and drama, this scene portrays the moment in which Saint Sebastian is bound to a stake to be shot at mercilessly from surrounding archers. This piece is remarkable for the sense of balance that Callot achieves within the composition; Sebastian rests at the center with an even amount of figures to his left and right, preparing to let their arrows fly. |
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| Historical Description: | |
| Conveying the instance of Saint Sebastian's martyrdom, Callot (Nancy, 1592- Nancy, 1635) depicts the cruel
moment in which the saint is bound to a stake to be shot at mercilessly by surrounding
archers. Callot creates a well-balanced composition with a developed sense of
depth and perspective. Sebastian stands in the center of the composition, a
small but recognizable figure identified by the arrows already piercing his
body and the desolate plot of land that surrounds him that designates him as
the target. He is surrounded by a sea of archers that span far into the distance.
In the foreground, heavily shaded figures raise their bows and arrows and prepare
to shoot while others merely lounge and observe the horrific scene. According
to the biblical story, the widow of Castulus went to retrieve his body to bury
it and discovered Sebastian still alive, a truly miraculous occurrence.
Created c. 1634, engraving is signed in the plate in the lower right 'Callot Jn' and printed on a fine paper with an unidentified flower and pitcher watermark. Annotated 'P. Mariette le fils excud.' In the lower right.
About the Framing: | |
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Biography of Jacques Callot
French engraver and draughtsman. Jacques Callot went to Italy when he was in his teens and, working in Rome and then in Florence at the court of the Grand Duke Cosimc II (1590-1621), he learned to combine the sophisticated techniques and exaggerations of late Mannerism with witty and acute observation into a brilliantly expressive idiom. Returning to France in 1621 he became one of the chief exponents of the bizarre and grotesque which came into vogue in the reign of Louis XIII (1601-43). Most of the remainder of his career was spent in his native Nancy, but he also worked in Paris and the Low Countries. He made a specialty of beggars and deformities, characters from the picaresque novel and the Italian commedia dell'arte. In this respect he comes close to Bellange, also active in Nancy, but Callot's style was more realistic. His last great work, the series of etchings entitled the Grandes Miséres de la Guerre followed the invasion of Lorraine by Car Richelieu in 1633, and is a harrowing depiction the atrocities of war; its themes and imagery were used as a source by Goya. His output was prodigious; more than a thousand Callot etchings and drawings by him are extant, and some of his plates are large, featuring scores of brilliantly arranged figures. Jacques Callot was one of the greatest of all etchers and one of the first major creative artists to work exclusively in the graphic arts.
