Lady with Her Hands in Her Sleeves (from La Noblesse de Lorraine)

The grand figures, who dwarf the Tuscan-style landscapes behind them, represent the recently ennobled bourgeois class that formed the elite citizenry of the Duchy of Lorraine. Callot’s larger-than-life portrayals make commentary on particular social types as opposed to specific individuals. It has been suggested that Callot used members of his own family as models: the woman pictured in the etchings in this exhibition—and others in the series—is Callot’s wife, Catherine Kuttinger, whom he wed in 1623.