*Le Brelan* after Jacques Callot

Jacques Callot (1592–1635) is regarded as the greatest engraver from Lorraine of the^17th century, alongside Israël Sylvestre (1621–1691). After an initial apprenticeship with a goldsmith working for the Duke of Lorraine, Callot left for Rome around 1608–1609, where he joined the workshop of the engraver Philippe Thomassin. He then moved to Florence before returning to Lorraine in 1621 at the request of Charles of Lorraine. From that time until his death, Callot built his reputation as an engraver, working in particular for Louis XIII, King of France, and Isabelle-Claire-Eugénie, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands. Best known for his series entitled *The Great Misery of War*, depicting the devastation and violence of the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) then raging across Europe, Jacques Callot was one of the masters of etching, and his prints spread throughout Europe.

The painting at Aulteribe Castle was thus executed after an etching by Jacques Callot circa 1628–1629. Together with *Le Bénédicité*, these are Callot’s only two night scenes. The artist drew inspiration from Caravaggio’s scenes of the underworld, depicting drinkers in taverns, gypsy women and card games marred by cheating. Jacques Callot may have been influenced by Caravaggio during his stay in Italy, but Nancy, the city where he lived, was also an important centre of Caravaggian art, centred in particular around the painter and engraver Jean Le Clerc.

Aulteribe’s painting is reminiscent of *The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds*, painted by another artist from Lorraine, Georges de la Tour, a few years later; however, it remains difficult to pinpoint precisely which work may have influenced Jacques Callot in this rare nocturnal scene. Some experts have linked the work to a painting by Rutilio Manetti entitled *Gambler and Musicians by Candlelight* ( held in Siena in the Chigi Saracini collection), though it is not possible to determine which work influenced the other. David Mandrella, for his part, has linked the engraving to a painting by Jean Leclerc, *The Night Concert*, held at Schleissheim Palace in Munich. Finally, Jean Lieure, a leading expert on the artist, identifies the two central figures as portraits of Callot and his wife.

A very large number of painted copies of this print by Callot exist. In addition to Aulteribe’s version, examples include the one at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes, the one at the Musée de Brou, and the one at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tours, all three dating from^{the 17th} century.

Jacques Callot (1592–1635), [Nancy, Musée Historique Lorrain, 13 June–14 September 1992], exhibition catalogue edited by Paulette Choné, Paris, 1992.