This is the entire book
De Droeve Elendigheden van dr Oorloogh (The Miseries
of War ) after 18 prints by Jacques Callot engraved by Leon Schenk 90
x 185 mm.
The sequence begins with the drilling and recruitment of an army, which
moves swiftly to battle. The following plates show the slaughter and
torture of civilians and opponents generally with the locale changing
from highway to hamlet to market town. Prisoners are taken, interrogated,
and then executed in a number of barbarous ways hanging, shooting and
burning being particularly favourite. The pace of slaughter slackens
and the last print shows the King rewarding officers responsible for
the campaign.
Born in Nancy in 1592 , Callot died there in 1635. His parents were
opposed to his becoming an artist and he left home on two separate occasions
for Florence and Rome where he studied against their wishes.
His art became synonymous with a certain kind of grotesque figure which
he could effortlessly combine in crowds of energy and movement. His
series of prints The Miseries of War was immensely influential in the
original format and in subsequently pirated and reproduced form. One
distinguished admirer was the Spanish artist Francisco Goya who published
a similar exercise in the recording of human folly and cruelty.
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