Image

Jacques Callot

Les Martyrs du Japon, (The Martyrs of Japan)

Description

Maker

Jacques Callot (French, 1592-1635)

Title

Les Martyrs du Japon, (The Martyrs of Japan)

Year

ca. 1627

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

etching

Supports

Dimensions

Plate: 16.8 x 11.4 cm (6 5/8 x 4 1/2 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Original--Verso:in brown ink, UC:P. Mariette 1667; in pencil, UR:72In Plate--Signed, LL:Callot fec.; in LC:Le Pourtraict des premier 23 Martire mis en Croix par la predicaon. de las. foy au Giappon/soubs L'Empe. Taicosam en la Cité de Monga Sachi, de lordre des freres mineurs Obseruantin de. S. Francois.

Marks: RISD Museum stamp in brown ink on verso.Pierre Mariette collector mark in brown ink on verso (Lugt 1789); Comte Giuseppe Archinto collector marks in black ink on verso (Lugt 546 & 547); Watermark:crown over horn

Identification

State

State:i/ii

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of an anonymous friend

Object Number

47.774

Type

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Jacques Callot and the Baroque Print
Jun 17, 2011 – Nov 06, 2011

Label copy

Callot’s interest in documenting contemporary events is evident in this depiction of the crucifixion of twenty-six Christians in Japan in 1597. Executed on the orders of

Emperor Taikosama, the martyrs included several European Franciscan missionaries, as well as Japanese Jesuits and Christian laymen, causing outrage in Europe. Callot probably created this print on the occasion of the beatification of the martyrs by Pope Urban VIII in 1627. He deliberately evoked painted examples of the rucifixion of Christ between the two thieves and created drama by aligning the many crosses in a powerful spatial recession. Above the crucified bodies, St. John the Baptist and angels throw laurel wreaths, palm leaves, and flowers down upon the martyrs.

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This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Jacques Callot (French, 1592-1635)
Les Martyrs du Japon, (The Martyrs of Japan), ca. 1627
Etching
Plate: 16.8 x 11.4 cm (6 5/8 x 4 1/2 inches)
Gift of an anonymous friend 47.774

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