Reverse Copy of L'Homme Enroulé dans son Manteau (Man Wrapped in his Mantle), from "Les Caprices" Series A, The Florence Set 1620 - 1700

This tiny print of a man enveloped in a large, fur-trimmed mantle is one of a series of etchings after Jacques Callot, likely made in Florence. Callot was working in Italy in the early 17th century, producing popular images of commedia dell’arte figures and military scenes. This particular copy reduces Callot’s distinctive etching style to a series of simple lines. But the image itself invites us to ask about the social function of prints in early modern Europe. Were prints like this simply a way to disseminate images and make them more widely available? Or was something else at stake? One possible reading would be to consider prints as a means of standardizing taste and teaching people how to understand and appreciate artworks. To understand the historical significance of this small print, one would want to know more about the institutions in which it circulated and the individuals who collected them.