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Paris in about 1629, spread across thirteen inches of copperplate and populated by what feels like half the city.
Jacques Callot’s Vue du Pont-Neuf is one of his celebrated Deux Grandes Vues de Paris, a pair of panoramic views created around 1629–1630. This impression is the second state of five, catalogued as Lieure 668 and Meaume 714, with Callot’s engraved signature, “Callot fec.”, at lower right.
The view takes in the Pont Neuf, the Seine and the old Tour de Nesle, but Callot was never content simply to draw buildings. The riverbank is crawling with life: boats and cargo, horses and carts, workers, pedestrians and innumerable tiny figures going about seventeenth-century Paris. Among the activities depicted are the nautical jousts traditionally held on the Seine. Monumental architecture and ordinary human business occupy the same narrow strip of paper, which is very much Callot’s particular magic trick.
This impression has an especially significant feature: the laid paper bears a clearly visible double-C watermark with Cross of Lorraine, a watermark associated with early impressions of Callot’s two great Paris views and consistent with the second-state identification.
The older mount also carries manuscript cataloguing identifying the print as Lieure 668, second state. At approximately 13⅜ inches wide, the sheet corresponds closely with documented institutional impressions of the plate.
Large, intricate and almost compulsively populated, this is Callot doing what Callot did best: making an entire city worth looking at through a magnifying glass.
Details
Title: Vue du Pont-Neuf
Series: Les Deux Grandes Vues de Paris
Artist: Jacques Callot (French, 1592–1635)
Place: Paris / Nancy
Date: Circa 1629–1630
Medium: Etching on laid paper
Catalogue Raisonné: Lieure 668; Meaume 714
State: Second state of five (II/V)
Inscription: “Callot fec.” at lower right
Watermark: Double C with Cross of Lorraine
Print Dimensions: Approximately 13⅜ × 6¾ inches
Mount Dimensions: Approximately 18 × just under 12½ inches
Condition
Strong, finely detailed impression with excellent articulation throughout the architecture, riverfront activity, boats and numerous small figures. Sheet is trimmed very close to the platemark. Age-related toning with scattered foxing and spotting and minor surface wear. Double-C with Cross of Lorraine watermark is clearly visible in transmitted light. Sheet is attached at the upper corners to an older presentation mount bearing manuscript cataloguing identifying the work and state. Please review photographs for full condition.
Subject
Paris; Pont Neuf; Seine; Tour de Nesle; boats; river traffic; nautical jousting; horses; carts; seventeenth-century urban life; architecture.
Topic
Jacques Callot; Old Master prints; French Baroque printmaking; 17th-century etching; Lieure 668; Meaume 714; second state; Paris views; Pont Neuf; double-C watermark; Cross of Lorraine.
Shipping
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