Callot figures; a well-dressed dwarf man to left declaring his love to an old dwarf woman to left, a dwarf man playing the guitar and a dwarf woman dancing with a tambourine to right, from 'Six grotesques' (Six pièces de figures grotesques) 1684

This etching by Agostino Mitelli II presents four grotesque figures, likely conceived as part of a series. The first man on the left is declaring his love to an old dwarf woman. To the right, a man is playing a guitar, and a woman dances with a tambourine. The dwarfed or deformed figure has a long history in art. These figures have been depicted in Ancient Egypt and Greece. During the Renaissance, we see them in courtly settings, often serving as entertainers. These ‘grotesques’ remind us of the cyclical nature of image-making. The act of making music and dancing connects us to ancient Dionysian rituals—celebrations of ecstasy, fertility, and the irrational. The guitar and tambourine summon this spirit, reminding us that art, at its core, taps into our primal emotions and collective memories, resurfacing in new forms throughout history. It is a dance through time and image.