Jacque Callot’s etching, “Conversion of St Paul”, 1635

Jacques Callot (1592– 1635)

“Conversion of St Paul”, 1635, from the series of ten plates, “Nouveau Testament”

Etching on laid paper with margins.

Size: (sheet) 10 x 10.7 cm; (plate) 6.8 x 8.7 cm

Numbered on plate; lettered with quotation from the Bible, in Latin (Act. 9)

Meaume 1860 47.II (Meaume, Édouard 1860, “Recherches sur la vie et les ouvrages de Jacques Callot”, 2 volumes, Paris); Lieure 1927 1427.II (Lieure, J, 1927. “Jacques Callot”, 3 vols, Paris, Editions de la Gazette des Beaux-Arts)

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Plate 10: conversion of St Paul, with Paul lying in the middle and supported by a soldier while the army flees away, and Christ appearing above him.”

(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1579591&partId=1&searchText=callot+Paul&page=1)

Condition: near faultless impression with margins in excellent condition. The sheet has remnants of mounting hinges (verso).

I am selling this VERY small etching with all the exceptionally fine details that made Callot famous for AU$210 (currently US$159.57/EUR150.82/GBP130.81 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this small miracle of etching, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

In the previous post also showcasing a print by Callot, I discussed the amazing amount of fine detail that Callot is able to display in his miniature prints like this one. To count the figures would be a task far too onerous for me to even consider entering into and so I will simply state that there are four hundred and thirty-six figures depicted in this tiny etching and wait for someone to correct me with the true number that they were able to count.

Apart from Callot’s patience and incredible discipline to create this miniature masterpiece of fine details, my fascination with this print also extends to the way that Callot achieves a smooth tonal transition from a dark foreground to a lighter toned distance. Just as interesting for me is the way that he connotes aerial perspective (i.e. the transitional change from focal acuity in the foreground to blurriness in the distance). Note, for example, how Callot uses a lively pattern of small tonal contrasts to render the foreground features of the standard bearer on the bucking horse and sets this effect of visual energy against the visual calm of close-toned treatment of the distant castle..