Who painted Peasant Defecating?

Peasant Defecating was painted by Jacques Callot in 1617.

Where can I see Peasant Defecating?

Peasant Defecating is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is Peasant Defecating?

Peasant Defecating is associated with Baroque.

Artwork

Peasant Defecating

Jacques Callot , 1617

Peasant Defecating is an ink print by the Baroque artist Jacques Callot. It dates from 1617 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

Created circa 1617, *Peasant Defecuring* is an etching on laid paper by Jacques Callot, a French printmaker active in the early seventeenth century. The work belongs to Callot’s prolific output of more than a thousand prints that document everyday life in the Duchy of Lorraine.

Subject & Meaning

The image depicts a solitary figure squatting in an open landscape, engaged in a private act of defecation. The stark, unembellished portrayal underscores Callot’s interest in the mundane and the socially marginal, presenting a candid glimpse of rural existence without moralizing commentary.

Technique & Style

Callot employed the traditional etching process, incising the design into a metal plate and allowing ink to settle in the resulting lines. The resulting marks are rough and scratchy, producing a raw, unfinished quality that heightens the immediacy of the scene and contrasts with the smoother areas of the paper.

History & Provenance

The print emerged during Callot’s early period, when he was establishing his reputation for detailed genre scenes. It has survived in several impressions on laid paper, a common support for prints of the era, and is recorded in catalogues of his oeuvre as an example of his interest in lower‑class subjects.

Context

In the Baroque period, French and Lorraine artists often used printmaking to disseminate observations of daily life. Callot’s work aligns with this trend, joining other prints that depict soldiers, beggars, and peasants, thereby providing a visual record of contemporary customs and social hierarchies.