Artwork
Beggar with a Stick
Beggar with a Stick is an ink print by the Baroque artist French 17th Century. It dates from 1622 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Beggar with a Stick is an etching on laid paper depicting an elderly man leaning on a long stick, conveying a sense of fatigue and age through his posture and facial expression.
Subject & Meaning
The subject, an older beggar, is portrayed with emphasis on his weary state, suggested by his bent body, wrinkled face, and tightly gripped stick, evoking a narrative of hardship.
Technique & Style
Executed in etching, the work features rough, scratchy lines and deep, dark marks, characteristic of the etching process where a tool's pressure on a metal plate creates expressive, textured impressions.
Context
The etching's style aligns with 17th-century practices, where etching was valued for its ability to produce quick, expressive sketches, often capturing everyday or humble subjects with immediacy.
Artist & collection
Artist
Seventeenth-century French printmakers turned ink into story. Their tools were burin and acid, paper their stage. Look at the Beggar Woman with Rosary (1622), etched on laid paper, her hands folded around faith, or The…
