L'enrôlement des troupes

The Miseries and Misfortunes of War (Les Misères et les Mal-Heures de la Guerre), a series of 18 small etchings by French artist Jacques Callot, depart from the art historical tradition of depicting the glory and heroism of the battlefield. Instead, quite novelly, Callot seeks to document the violence and degradation of war and unimaginable collateral damage. Callot's native region, the duchy of Lorraine, was invaded by French troops in 1633 in response to siding with the Habsburgs during the Thirty Years War (1618–1648). The territory was decimated; troops looted, raped, tortured, and murdered its citizens, and disease and famine followed.