Saint Roch, kneeling on a stone, seen from the side with his dog behind him and a townscape in the background at left

Art Historical Context

In this delicate etching from 1620–30, Giuseppe Caletti, known as Cremonese, captures Roch in a moment of pious devotion. The saint kneels on a stone, viewed from the side, with his loyal dog at his heels—a nod to the legend where the animal brought him bread during his plague-induced exile. A quaint townscape fades into the background at left, evoking the everyday world amid spiritual isolation. Produced as the first state of, this print (5 11/16 × 3 1/2 in.) offers a rare, unaltered glimpse into the artist's iterative process before later refinements. Caletti, a 17th-century Italian etcher from Cremona, worked in the Baroque era, when religious imagery surged amid ongoing plagues across Europe. Saint Roch, patron against pestilence, resonated deeply; his iconography—often including a bubo on the thigh (implied here)—comforted the faithful. Etching's fine lines allowed Caletti to convey texture and depth on a small scale, making devotional art accessible beyond paintings. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011), this work highlights printmaking's role in disseminating saintly narratives, blending faith, folklore, and artistry for Renaissance viewers seeking solace.