Peasant Couple with Cowc. 1621
Jacques Callot made this in about 1621, aged 29. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. More about this work
About this work
The image has an elevated perspective showing two figures with animals in the scene. One person is leaning against a tree with a stick, while the other is seated on the ground. A cow is between them and other livestock in the middle distance. A person in the distance is tending to the animals. The horizon is low in the image, hidden by rolling hills. The artwork is in monochrome with fine linework, creating texture through hatching and cross-hatching, emphasizing depth and dimensionality.
Description from the National Gallery of Art.
Jacques Callot made this in about 1621, aged 29. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
How it was made
- Etching
- The artist draws with a needle through a waxy coating on a copper plate, and acid bites the exposed lines. The plate is then inked, wiped and printed under pressure, so the line keeps the freedom of drawing.
- Laid paper
- Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The National Gallery of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1969.15.365
- Credit
- Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Type
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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