Jacques Callot

In the early 17th century, the ruling classes of Europe held on to the medieval ideal of the Christian knight, who defined his honor and nobility in terms of physical courage. Courtly performances often portrayed this ideal with references to the glorious victories of medieval knights or to ancient Greek and Roman heroes. The Combat at the Barrier was staged at the court of Lorraine on February 14, 1627, in honor of the Duchess of Chevreuse, a favorite of Duke Charles IV. Callot’s prints commemorating the event were paired with text by the court poet Henry Humbert and bound into a book, a copy of which is on view at left.

The nine prints on this wall show several courtiers entering the ballroom prior to the combat atop allegorical floats proclaiming their moral righteousness and military prowess. One of the courtiers casts himself as the Greek hero Jason, and another invents the heroic personae of “Pirandre”; the Duke himself enters in the guise of the Sun. The final twoscenes depict the palatial ballroom that was the setting for the combat. Callot shows us the Duke’s triumphal wagons at the entrance to the room and the elevated podium reserved for the Duchess of Chevreuse. Finally, the Duke and the Prince of Phalsbourg, a famed military commander, come to blows with lances across a barrier. Humbert assures us that however furious the combat the Duke achieved a decisive victory.