Saint James Major c. 17th century

Curator: Jacques Callot, born in 1592, presents "Saint James Major" in this intriguing print, now residing at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: The hatching is striking! Look at how Callot suggests depth and form with such minimal means, like the folds of Saint James's cloak. Curator: Callot was a master of etching, revolutionizing the medium with his improved recipes for etching ground, enabling finer lines and greater detail. This print, I think, is a testament to that. It also shows the public veneration of saints at the time. Editor: And think about the labor, the meticulous process of applying the ground, incising the lines with a burin, biting the plate in acid, printing. Each step demanding skilled craft. Curator: True. Callot's prints circulated widely, shaping popular imagination and reinforcing religious and political narratives across Europe. Editor: Seeing those densely packed figures in the background really drives home how prints like this, despite their subject matter, were part of a much broader visual culture and economy. Curator: Indeed. We see how artistic innovation intertwined with social function. Editor: It's a fascinating intersection of material and meaning!