In 1633 artist Jacques Callot published a series of 18 etchings titled The Great Miseries of War in which he depicted the horrors of the ongoing Thirty Years' War.
That same year the French army invaded his native Lorraine.
His art captures the brutality of the war! 🧵
That same year the French army invaded his native Lorraine.
His art captures the brutality of the war! 🧵
Jacques Callot was born in 1592 in Nancy in the Duchy of Lorraine and was a very skilled artist.
The 18 prints titled The Great Miseries of War or Les Grandes Misères de la guerre are his most famous work.
Let's take a look at them!
Plate 1: Frontispiece
The 18 prints titled The Great Miseries of War or Les Grandes Misères de la guerre are his most famous work.
Let's take a look at them!
Plate 1: Frontispiece
Plate 2: Enrolling the troops
There were two big military conflicts in Callot's vicinity during his life.
The Eighty Years' War in the Low Countries (which he visited in 1627), and the Thirty Years' War which started in 1618 and gradually spread all over the Holy Roman Empire.
There were two big military conflicts in Callot's vicinity during his life.
The Eighty Years' War in the Low Countries (which he visited in 1627), and the Thirty Years' War which started in 1618 and gradually spread all over the Holy Roman Empire.
Plate 3: The battle
This image depicts how the war was fought on open battlefields at the time.
Pistol-armed cuirassier cavalry clashed with each other while the infantry engages in warfare with pikes and muskets.
It was a very brutal and lethal type of warfare.
This image depicts how the war was fought on open battlefields at the time.
Pistol-armed cuirassier cavalry clashed with each other while the infantry engages in warfare with pikes and muskets.
It was a very brutal and lethal type of warfare.
Plate 4: The raid
But the war was not only fought in big battles.
Raids were common and seen as a legitimate conduct of war.
The Thirty Years' War was brought devastation and the population began to suffer due to raids by various armies and mercenaries that wandered around.
But the war was not only fought in big battles.
Raids were common and seen as a legitimate conduct of war.
The Thirty Years' War was brought devastation and the population began to suffer due to raids by various armies and mercenaries that wandered around.
Plate 5: The pillage
The same year he made this series, war came to Callot's native Lorraine as well as the French invaded in 1635.
France had not entered the Thirty Years' War yet but local duke Charles IV was involved in French politics and a rival of Cardinal Richelieu.
The same year he made this series, war came to Callot's native Lorraine as well as the French invaded in 1635.
France had not entered the Thirty Years' War yet but local duke Charles IV was involved in French politics and a rival of Cardinal Richelieu.
Plate 6: Looting a monastery
The French forced Duke Charles IV of Lorraine into submission and took over Callot's hometown of Nancy in 1633.
Lorraine was otherwise part of Holy Roman Empire but the Imperial authority was weakened due to the ongoing Thirty Years' War.
The French forced Duke Charles IV of Lorraine into submission and took over Callot's hometown of Nancy in 1633.
Lorraine was otherwise part of Holy Roman Empire but the Imperial authority was weakened due to the ongoing Thirty Years' War.
Plate 7: Looting and burning a village
It seems that these events further inspired Callot to portray the horrors of war which had now entered his lands as well.
France would officially enter the conflict in 1635 and Lorraine would be contested between the French and Imperials.
It seems that these events further inspired Callot to portray the horrors of war which had now entered his lands as well.
France would officially enter the conflict in 1635 and Lorraine would be contested between the French and Imperials.
Plate 8: Highway robbery
The Thirty Years' War brought unprecedented scale of violence and destruction to Central Europe as the conflict kept prolonging and involving more and more powerful states.
Bands of mercenaries and robbers and other marauders were pestering the people.
The Thirty Years' War brought unprecedented scale of violence and destruction to Central Europe as the conflict kept prolonging and involving more and more powerful states.
Bands of mercenaries and robbers and other marauders were pestering the people.
Plate 9: Arrest of the offenders
This image depicts a capture of a group of marauding soldiers.
Just like the common soldiers tried to enrich themselves, powerful states tried to expand their power. Ideological and religious motives were most often of secondary importance.
This image depicts a capture of a group of marauding soldiers.
Just like the common soldiers tried to enrich themselves, powerful states tried to expand their power. Ideological and religious motives were most often of secondary importance.
Plate 10: Strappado
In the era in which Callot lived public brutal torture was also common.
He depicted some of the torture methods that were popular at the time like the strappado where the victim's hands were tied behind his back and suspended by a rope attached to the wrist.
In the era in which Callot lived public brutal torture was also common.
He depicted some of the torture methods that were popular at the time like the strappado where the victim's hands were tied behind his back and suspended by a rope attached to the wrist.
Plate 11: The hanging
Mass executions were also common in the Early Modern Era.
While Callot did not refer to any specific event, some assume he wanted to draw attention to the atrocities the French committed during their invasion of Lorraine.
Mass executions were also common in the Early Modern Era.
While Callot did not refer to any specific event, some assume he wanted to draw attention to the atrocities the French committed during their invasion of Lorraine.
Plate 12: Firing squad
The motives and the real meaning behind Callot's work remains unclear.
It became an inspiration for Francisco Goya's Los Desastres de la guerra (The Disasters of War) two centuries later which is often interpreted as a condemnation of war.
The motives and the real meaning behind Callot's work remains unclear.
It became an inspiration for Francisco Goya's Los Desastres de la guerra (The Disasters of War) two centuries later which is often interpreted as a condemnation of war.
Plate 13: Burning at the stake
But it's unlikely that Callot wanted to make a general anti-war stance.
More likely he accepted war as an inherent part of society as it was seen as the time, and wanted to only condemn excesses and abuses, advocating severe punishments for them.
But it's unlikely that Callot wanted to make a general anti-war stance.
More likely he accepted war as an inherent part of society as it was seen as the time, and wanted to only condemn excesses and abuses, advocating severe punishments for them.
Plate 14: Breaking wheel
The execution wheel was another widespread torture method used for public execution at the time.
The goal of this method was to inflict a slow agonizing and extremely painful death. The criminals would have their bones broken before they were executed.
The execution wheel was another widespread torture method used for public execution at the time.
The goal of this method was to inflict a slow agonizing and extremely painful death. The criminals would have their bones broken before they were executed.
Plate 15: The hospital
Many German towns had small Holy Spirit hospitals, which had been founded in the 13th and 14th centuries.
But during the Thirty Years' War these were often raided and closed, contributing to the destruction and spread of diseases.
Many German towns had small Holy Spirit hospitals, which had been founded in the 13th and 14th centuries.
But during the Thirty Years' War these were often raided and closed, contributing to the destruction and spread of diseases.
Plate 16: The beggars and the dying
The effects of Thirty Years' War were devastating for the civilian population.
Atrocities, pillaging and diseases ravaged the lands with some parts of Germany losing even more than 60% of their inhabitants during the war.
The effects of Thirty Years' War were devastating for the civilian population.
Atrocities, pillaging and diseases ravaged the lands with some parts of Germany losing even more than 60% of their inhabitants during the war.
Plate 17: The peasants fight back
Sometimes the peasants would organize and defend themselves against the bands of marauding soldiers and robbers, and seek revenge.
Sometimes the peasants would organize and defend themselves against the bands of marauding soldiers and robbers, and seek revenge.
Plate 18: Distribution of rewards
The series ends with soldiers being rewarded for their good service.
Callot's The Great Miseries of War provides a fascinating look into one of the most brutal periods of European history and into the mindset of people at the time.
The series ends with soldiers being rewarded for their good service.
Callot's The Great Miseries of War provides a fascinating look into one of the most brutal periods of European history and into the mindset of people at the time.
Jacques Callot would not live long afterwards.
At the time he made The Great Miseries of War he was already suffering from a terrible stomach ailment and died two years later in 1635.
He had made more than 1400 etchings in his life.
At the time he made The Great Miseries of War he was already suffering from a terrible stomach ailment and died two years later in 1635.
He had made more than 1400 etchings in his life.
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