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The Dramatic Image: Baroque Prints of the 17th Century

Jacques Callot
French, 1592–1635

Dying Soldiers by the Roadside

Translated inscription:
How lamentable is the luck of the poor soldier! When the war is over, his misfortune starts again. Then he is compelled to go begging, and his poverty arouses laughter of the peasant, who curses him when he asks for alms and considers it an insult to see before him the object of the afflictions he endures.

The Peasants Avenge Themselves

Translated inscription:
After the soldiers have caused much destruction, finally the peasants, whom they have treated as enemies, await them in ambush in a secluded place, and having killed them by surprise, strip them to their shirts, thus avenging themselves on these unfortunate men for the loss of their property, due solely to them.

Distribution of Rewards

Translated inscription:
This example of a grateful leader, who punishes evil and rewards the good, should prick soldiers with the goad of honor, since all their happiness depends on virtue and they ordinarily receive from vice shame, scorn and the extreme penalty.


Etching, 1633
Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1982.130p-r