Engraving The Bancal Playing Guitar

A fashionable engraver at the Florentine court of Cosimo II de' Medici, Jacques Callot (1612 - 1621) was passionate about the spectacle of life, which he sketched with spontaneity and honesty. By the wayside, on the streets and in the markets, he sketched crowds of wretches, vagabonds and hoodlums, capturing...

A fashionable engraver at the Florentine court of Cosimo II de' Medici, Jacques Callot (1612 - 1621) was passionate about the spectacle of life, which he sketched with spontaneity and honesty. By the wayside, on the streets and in the markets, he sketched crowds of wretches, vagabonds and hoodlums, capturing many small, bold and comical details. Gobbo, in Italian, means hunchback; gobbi are deformed dwarfs. A troupe of acrobats - jesters, jokers, musicians and dancers - they performed at court parties and popular entertainments in Florence's squares. On several occasions, the young Callot observed their bent bodies, mocking grime and mimicry, which he did not hesitate to exaggerate on paper. Cripples, drinkers, duelists, musicians and comedians hide beneath shapeless, broad hats. Their features are coarse, with prominent noses and grimacing mouths on pimply, scarred skin.