The Oppressed Woman, from Scelta d'Alcuni Miracoli e Grazie della Santissima Nunziata di Firenze (Selection of Some Miracles and Graces that Occurred in the Church of the Annunziata in Florence)

Art Historical Context

This engraving, created between 1611 and 1619, forms part of the illustrated book *Scelta d’alcuni miracoli e grazie della Santissima Nunziata di Firenze*. The volume celebrates miraculous interventions associated with the revered Annunciation fresco housed in’s Santissima Annunziata church. Jacques Callot, working after designs by Matteo Rosselli, translated these stories into precise, small-scale prints that brought tales of faith and deliverance to a wide audience during the Counter-Reformation. Measuring just over five by three inches, the sheet demonstrates the remarkable detail Callot achieved in engraving. Fine lines and subtle tonal gradations capture dramatic human emotion within a compact format, allowing the image to be reproduced and shared among pilgrims and collectors alike. As the second state of two, the print shows the artist’s careful revisions, refining composition and clarity for devotional use. Today in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection, the work offers visitors a window into early seventeenth-century Florentine piety and the power of printed imagery to spread stories of hope and divine protection.

About the Artist

Jacques Callot|Matteo Rosselli · 1592–1635

Jacques Callot (1592–1635) was a French printmaker and draftsman from the Duchy of Lorraine, widely regarded as one of the first great artists to practice the graphic arts exclusively. His more than 1,400 etchings chronicled the breadth of 17th-century life, from Medici court festivities to the brutal realities of warfare. Callot revolutionized etching through technical innovations including the é...