Saint Roch c. 17th century

Curator: Jacques Callot's tiny etching, "Saint Roch," held at the Harvard Art Museums, depicts the saint in an oval frame with surprisingly intricate detail. Editor: It feels like a storybook illustration, doesn't it? There's a delicacy in the line work, a certain lightness despite the weighty subject of plague and healing. Curator: The symbols are compelling. Roch's bubo is exposed, an angel attends him, and a loyal dog brings bread, all signifiers of his endurance and divine favor during times of plague. Editor: Yes, and the crumbling architecture in the background evokes societal breakdown. The figures in the distance, are they dancing or succumbing? How interesting to see the plague represented as a social ill as much as a medical one. Curator: Precisely! This etching circulated widely, thus shaping public understanding of how plague was seen, not just as a disease, but as a test of faith and communal bonds. It’s a potent image. Editor: Indeed, considering the period, it's a powerful statement on both the tragedy and resilience of the human spirit in the face of widespread death and societal upheaval.