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Show along the main structural lines of the composition There is no need any longer to direct attention t Callot's two celebrated series which depict so unforgettably Les Miseres dela Guerre as he himself ha seen them in his oft ravished Lorraine. Less known however, are the delightful little illustrations for th parableof L'Enfant Prodigue, one of which, showin the prodigal as a swineherd, challenges compariso in advance with the subsequent masterpieces o Dutch genre andlandscape etching. Aselsewhere i Callot's worl, the only serious stylistic defect is tha the method here employed is not that of pure etching, since it regularly involves the use of the buri toreinforce and complete the worlk of the acid Callot carried the art of etching with him to Italy where he is said to have instructed his compatriot Claude Gelée. The latter's handling of the figuresi his plate, Campo Vaccino, certainly seems to sho traces of Callot's influence. In general, however Claude derivesfarless from thatartist, for whom th landscape serves mainly as a mere background a gainstwhich the figuresstandoutsharpanddistinct than from the German painter and etcher, Ada Elsheimer,whoalsoworkedatRome,andwho,amon many novelties wherewith he seduced hisgeneration, sought to unite both natural and human ele mentsinasingle subtleand imaginative synthesis Claude was the first great modern landscape artis and his followers tended to reduce the figures to s much mere staffage. Among these followers wer 1 Digital mage© 2005 Marriott Library University of Utah, All rights reserved |