Les Grandes Misères de la guerre

Common card · No. 325330

Les Grandes Misères de la guerre (French: [lɛ ɡʁɑ̃d mizɛʁ də la ɡɛʁ]; English: The Great Miseries of War or The Miseries and Misfortunes of War) are a series of 18 etchings by Lorrainian artist Jacques Callot (1592–1635), titled in full Les Misères et les Malheurs de la Guerre. Despite the grand theme of the series, the images are in fact only about 83 mm × 180 mm (3.25 x 7 inches) each, and are called the "large" Miseries to distinguish them from an even smaller earlier set on the same subject. Published in 1633, the series is Callot's best-known work and has been called the first "anti-war statement" in European art. The images are panoramic views with many small figures, and they feature gradation from light to dark that was typical of Callot's etchings. In sequence, the images recount the story of soldiers as they enroll in an army, fight in a battle, and rampage through the civilian community, only to then be arrested and executed. The etchings can also be considered as an early...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Jacques Callot, Public domain