Duel with Swords
Medium
woodcut on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to block): 5.8 × 8.3 cm (2 5/16 × 3 1/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
R.L. Baumfeld Collection
Accession Number
1969.15.221
Art Historical Context
**Duel with Swords** (1621) is a captivating woodcut on laid paper by Edouard Eckman, created after the renowned French printmaker Jacques Call. Measuring just 5.8 × 8.3 cm—trimmed precisely to the block—this diminutive print packs dramatic intensity into a tiny format. Part of the National Gallery of's R.L. Baumfeld Collection (Department CG-E), it exemplifies early 17th-century printmaking techniques, where woodcuts allowed for bold, high-contrast images produced through relief printing on handmade laid paper, recognizable by its subtle chain lines. Jacques Callot, a master of intricate det...
About the Artist
Edouard Eckman after Jacques Callot
Edouard Eckman, a Flemish printmaker born around 1600, remains a somewhat enigmatic figure in art history, with his early life not well documented. Little is known about his training or formal education, though his oeuvre suggests familiarity with the vibrant printmaking traditions of the early Baroque period in Northern Europe. Active primarily in the second decade of the seventeenth century, Eck...