Art Institute of Chicago

Frontispiece, from Various Scenes Designed in Florence

François Collignon (French, c. 1609–1657)

Date

1630

Medium

Etching with engraving on paper

Culture

France

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

The authorship of this print remains disputed, with scholars attributing the landscape either to Jacques Callot or his student, François Collignon. What is uncontested about the piece is the high quality of the etching, done in soft ground to give the image a gentle, atmospheric feel. Callot skillfully etched in a style that replicated pen-strokes, aided by the échoppe , a needle of his own invention that enabled him to etch lines that swelled and thinned like an engraver’s. Here, Callot’s name in the banner and the name of the publisher were likely engraved, but the landscape and frame are purely etched.

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