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Jacques Callot
Balli di Sfessania   c. 1622

set of 24 etchings on laid paper
9.5 x 12.6 cm each (approx.)
Gift of Philip R.L. Somerville, Ottawa, 1997
National Gallery of Canada (no. 39293.1-24)

The prints in this series - Callot's most exuberant and delightful - depict dances known in Neapolitan dialect as the sfessania. Such dances, as Callot's etchings demonstrate in salacious detail, are characterized by violent and sometimes obscene physical contortions and gesticulations. Each plate features a pair of figures pulled from the repertoire of popular entertainers, their balletic interactions running a comic gamut from mock grace to blatant crudity. Lively little scenes fill out the backgrounds of some of the dances, offering engaging glimpses of fairground activity in Callot's time.

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