Le Brelan

Candlelit night scene with card players seated at a table and a couple deceived by the other players.

Etching and engraving, ca. 1628/29, signed at bottom Jac. Callot fe. Nancej. Sometimes known as “Le Brelan”.

Example in the second state described by Lieure (Jacques Callot, 1927, no. 596), with the Latin inscription in the oval and the hat on the head of the woman playing the harp. The first state of the print (to which Lieure assigns the highest degree of rarity) is an ante litteram proof.

The work is one of his rare attempts at chiaroscuro (along with the 1626 Bénédicte); it bears a title that was probably given to it early on, in which 'brelan' refers to the place (a gambling den) and not the card game. In fact, it is a depiction of the Prodigal Son (who, according to Lieure, may have been given Callot's face) “deceived by a band of scoundrels”, according to the Latin caption. A painting attributed to the Lorraine painter Jean Le Clerc, a contemporary of Callot, depicts the same scene. It should be noted that the original parable (Gospel of Luke, 15:11-32) does not mention gambling. From the Middle Ages onward, gambling was added to enliven plays (Courtois d'Arras, early 13th century) and to enliven numerous stained glass windows (13th and 14th centuries), before seducing 16th, 17th, and 18th century engravers and painters, notably Lucas van Leyden, Nicolas Régnier, and Georges de La Tour.

Jules Lieure thus describes the scene in his catalog on the artist: “Un effet de nuit, le meilleur de l'œuvre de Callot. Dans un ovale en largeur, l'artiste a décrit une scène éclairée par la lueur d'une chandelle. C'est son second essai dans ce genre, le premier est le Benedicite (voir Cat. 595). L'opposition des blancs et des noirs est encore trop dure; certains blancs sont très lumineux, les parties dans l'ombre sont la plupart trop également forcées. Callot s'est arrêté au moment d'entrevoir la graduation de valeur des objets situés dans la pénombre et de rendre l'infinie richesse des effets du clair obscur. Il a préparé la route que Rembrandt allait exploiter avec un art genial. La scène représente des joueurs de cartes installés autour d'une table rectangulaire. Au milieu est l'enfant prodigue assis près d'une femme qui tient les cartes et dont il dirige le jeu. Derrière cette femme, un escroc se sert d'une petite glace pour montrer les cartes qu'elle tient à un partenaire assis en face sur un banc. A gauche de l'enfant prodigue, une femme debout joue de la harpe. A chaque bout de table est un joueur tenant ses cartes: celui de gauche appuie son genou droit sur le banc, celui de droite y pose le pied gauche. L'enfant prodigue ressemble à Callot. L'artiste a sans doute voulu se représenter assis auprès de sa jeune femme, quelque temps après son mariage. Le groupe est délicieux” [A night effect, the best of Callot's work. In a wide oval, the artist has depicted a scene illuminated by candlelight. This is his second attempt in this genre, the first being Benedicite (see Cat. 595). The opposition of whites and blacks is still too harsh; some whites are very luminous, the shadowy parts are mostly too evenly forced. Callot stopped short of glimpsing the gradation of value of objects in the penumbra and rendering the infinite richness of chiaroscuro effects. He paved the way for Rembrandt to exploit with genial artistry. The scene depicts card players seated around a rectangular table. In the middle is the prodigal son, seated next to a woman who holds the cards and whose game he directs. Behind this woman, a swindler uses a small mirror to show the cards she is holding to a partner seated opposite on a bench. To the left of the prodigal son, a standing woman plays the harp. At each end of the table is a player holding his cards: the one on the left rests his right knee on the bench, the one on the right puts his left foot on it. The prodigal son resembles Callot. The artist undoubtedly wanted to represent himself seated next to his young wife, some time after his marriage. The group is delightful].

Magnificent impression, rich in tone, printed on contemporary laid paper with “la Marièe” watermark (Lieure no. 40 identifies it as a typical watermark for this work), with margins, in excellent condition.

On verso signature of Pierre Mariette's collection, dated 1699 (Lugt n. 1788)

https://www.marquesdecollections.fr/FtDetail/85f416c4-d32b-c44c-98a6-66c401df323d

Splendid example of one of the masterpieces of Callot's graphic art, to which Lieure assigns the status of rare.

Bibliografia

Lieure, Jacques Callot (596.II); Meaume, Recherches sur la vie et les ouvrages de Jacques Callot (666.II); 'Jacques Callot' (Nancy 1992), n. 362.