The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 22, 2026

Drinker Seen From Behind

c. 1621–25

Jacques Callot

(French, 1592–1635)
France, 17th century
etching
Platemark: 6.3 x 8.5 cm (2 1/2 x 3 3/8 in.); Sheet: 6.6 x 8.9 cm (2 5/8 x 3 1/2 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. S. Fred Rosenthal for the fiftieth anniversary of The Print Club of Cleveland 1970.22
Catalogue raisonné: Lieure (2) II.37.412
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

This figure is raising his cup in one hand and holding a bottle with the other. Both the bulbous shape of the bottle and its basketlike encasement suggest that it is made of glass, which was newly introduced for the storage of wine in the 1600s.

Description

This image was published by Callot in 1621 as part of a series of 21 prints depicting gobbi (people with curved backs). The series was titled Varie figure gobbi di Jacopo Callot fatto in Firenza l'anno 1616 (Various hunchbacks by Jacopo Callot, made in Florence in 1616). The figures in the series are reminiscent of character tropes that were popular in the theatrical genre known as the commedia dell’arte (comedy of the profession). As the name suggests, the comedy of this genre was predicated on the assumption that the viewer occupied a different social class than the characters depicted. This figure's distorted physique and drunken dance would have suggested to contemporary audiences that he is inherently flawed in both body and mind.
  • ?–1970
    Mr. and Mrs. S. Fred Rosenthal, Shaker Heights, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    March 9, 1970–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • In Vino Veritas (In Wine, Truth). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 7, 2025-January 11, 2026).
    French Prints and Drawings in the Age of the Bourbons, 1589-1792. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 2-May 16, 1982).
    Stefano Della Bella; Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione; Jacques Bellange; Jacques Callot. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (May 7-July 13, 1980).
    Year in Review: 1970. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-March 7, 1971).
  • {{cite web|title=Drinker Seen From Behind|url=false|author=Jacques Callot|year=c. 1621–25|access-date=22 February 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1970.22