2. Jacques Callot
(1592-1635)
Soliman, Act I

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Callot: Soliman Act I

Soliman, Act I

Etching, 1620, 199 x 275 mm., Lieure 364 only state. Fine impression with light plate tone on laid paper with the watermark of a King (Lieure 22), as specified by Lieure for this print, trimmed on or just inside the platemark but with a blank area outside the borderline; tiny losses at the tips of three corners. Soliman was a tragic drama written by Prospero Bonarelli and published in Florence in 1620, dedicated to Cosimo, Grand Duke of Tuscany. For this publication Callot made a title page and illustrations of five scenes. However, the complex background décor in four of the five remained the same and in the final plate the structures are destroyed by fire. The artist, then, in using the same plate for all the scenes, and saving considerable effort thereby, insured that none of the images except the last could be reprinted after the first press run – an interesting way to assure a limited edition and consequent rarity. They are among the best theatrical prints of the century, even if there is little to choose between the various scenes