Christ Carrying the Cross, from The Small Passion

Jacques Callot’s etching series The Small Passion exemplifies the artist’s penchant for intimate detail. These prints highlight the ways he depicted space throughout a complete narrative. He framed each stage of the Passion of Christ with a different type of architectural or natural element. The porous boundaries of the exterior scenes allow visual movement by extending the view beyond the foreground figures, while the more rigorously contained interior scenes evoke a sense of finality. For example, Callot’s iconic image of the Last Supper takes place within an isolated triumphal arch that resembles an altar.