Art Institute of Chicago

The Grand Duke Fortifies the Port of Livorno, from The Life of Ferdinando I de’ Medici

Jacques Callot (French, 1592-1635)

Date

1616/20

Medium

Engraving in black on ivory laid paper

Culture

France

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Ferdinando I of Tuscany sits beneath an umbrella held by an attendant. At right, an engineer presents him with a model of the fortifications for the harbor of Livorno. The duke points at the construction already underway: in the background, workers appear busily wielding tools and carrying heavy loads on their backs. Jacques Callot rendered this work through engraving, though he is most known for his etchings made with an echoppe, a special tool he is credited with inventing. The echoppe has an oval-shaped tip that is twirled while drawing through a wax ground on a metal plate. This creates lines that swell and taper just like cuts made with an engraver’s burin.

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