Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Beck Building)

Jacques Callot, one of the most accomplished printmakers of the 17th century, revolutionized the technique of etching. Princes and Paupers focuses on two poles of Callot’s work: his aristocratic commissions, and his images of the marginalized and impoverished.

An international artist active in both France and Italy, Callot (1592–1635) was a consummate draftsman. His careful observations never fail to amaze viewers. Callot created more than 1,400 prints that reveal his fascination with a broad range of subjects, from the miseries of war to aristocratic pageantry; from saints to beggars; from biblical narratives and theatrical comedies to Gypsies and dwarfs. His prints often developed into series that explore a narrative or variations on a theme. Callot’s etchings, which are consistently imaginative, inventive, and witty, open a window through which to better understand 17th-century Europe.