La Grande Chasse (The Stag Hunt),

ca. 1619–20

Illustrator of both the splendors of court and the horrors of war, Callot was one of the most innovative and influential printmakers of the seventeenth century. This etching derives from his Florentine period (1614–21), when he worked at the Medici court. For this lively outdoor scene, Callot may have been inspired by stag hunts that he witnessed in forests near one of the many Medici villas. While hunting had long been a favored pastime of rulers and aristocrats, the artist looked beyond the sport’s ceremonial aspects, emphasizing the key role played by professional hunters using nets and spears to trap fleeing stags, such as the one seen in the middle distance.