Under the crucifix tree, men roll dice on a drumhead for the belong-
ings of the executed. (This may be an allusion to the soldiers who
cast lots for the garments of the crucified Christ.) In the right fore-
ground, a hooded priest consoles a bound man. Callot’s Miseries of
War etchings are among the first realistic pictorial records of the hu-
man disaster of armed conflict.
GEORGES DE LA TOUR France, unlike Flanders and the
Dutch Republic, was a Catholic country, and religious themes, al-
though not as common as in Italian Baroque art, occupied some
17th-century French painters. Among the artists well known for
their religious imagery was Georges de La Tour(1593–1652). His
work, particularly his use of light, suggests a familiarity with Cara-
vaggio’s art. La Tour may have learned about Caravaggio from the
Dutch school of Utrecht. Although La Tour used the devices of
Caravaggio’s northern followers, his effects are strikingly different
from theirs. His Adoration of the Shepherds (FIG. 25-29) makes use
of the night setting favored by that school, much as van HonthorstFrance 69525-28Jacques Callot,Hanging Tree,from theMiseries of War series, 1629–1633. Etching, 3^3 – 4 71 – 4 . Private collection.
Callot’s Miseries of War etchings were among the first realistic pictorial records of the human disaster of military conflict. Hanging Treedepicts
a mass execution of thieves in the presence of an army.
25-29Georges de La Tour,Adoration
of the Shepherds,1645–1650. Oil on canvas,
3 6 4 6 . Louvre, Paris.
Without the aid of the title, Georges de la
Tour’s painting could be a genre piece instead
of a biblical narrative. The French painter did
not even paint halos around the heads of the
holy figures.1 in.1 ft.