According to the Art Institute of Chicago, Callot (1592-1635) studied painting in his native Lorraine before relocating to Italy. He worked first in Rome, and was later appointed to the Florentine court, where he made etchings associated with the Medici festivals and theatrical productions. He returned to Nancy in 1621, renowned as a printmaker of innovative technique. His oeuvre consists of more than 1,400 prints. Callot returned to this ambitious, cataclysmic subject, which he had treated first in 1617, just before his death. It may reflect his horror at the plague that had taken his father's life in 1631 or his own battle with stomach cancer
