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Please be advised: the scenes below depict seventeenth-century violence, brutality, and execution.
Jacques Callot’s The Miseries and Misfortunes of War, also known as the Large Miseries of War, comprises a title page (plate 1) and seventeen additional plates.
The verses inscribed below Callot's images in the second state were composed by the abbot, author, and print collector Michel de Marolles. They describe the violent crimes and wretched fates of a group of early modern soldiers.
Plates 2 and 3: The new soldiers go to war
The orderly troops report for duty in a large military camp. They soon engage in a fierce, bloody battle.
Plates 5–8: Wreaking terror and havoc
Following the battle, some soldiers proceed to terrorize innocent civilians. The inscription in plate 7, Looting and Burning of a Village, states: "They have no fear of the laws or sense of duty, nor can tears and cries move them."
Plate 9: Captured!
The villainous soldiers, the “enemies of glory,” have at last been apprehended.
Plates 10–14: The punishments fit the crimes
The soldiers suffer the same fates as many of their victims. The inscription for plate 13, The Stake, explains: “as punishment for having burned” religious buildings, the perpetrators are “sacrificed to the flames.”
Plates 15–17: What comes around goes around
The wretched soldiers face poverty, physical suffering, and the revenge of those they wronged.
Plate 18: Justice done
The just leader punishes the wicked and rewards the good.