Callot, Jacques (1592-1635)

He was a Baroque draughtsman and engraver from the Duchy of Lorraine, a region then independent and later annexed to France. He produced more than 1,400 plates that chronicle the period in which he lived. He depicted both the working classes (soldiers, clowns, gypsies, beggars) and the opulent life of the court. He also etched religious and military series with subtle landscapes in the background. Some 2,000 drawings and preparatory studies for his prints have survived, but no paintings by him are known, from which it may be deduced that he was not a painter.