Two Beggars Fighting (1612–16): Artwork and History

Two Beggars Fighting (1612–16) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Jacques Bellange French, c. 1575-1616.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

The uneven appearance of Jacques Bellange’s experimental printmaking techniques and his exaggeration of the human body complement this genre scene of two transients—a pilgrim and a hurdy-gurdy player—fighting a mock-epic battle. Their interlocking pyramidal form achieves a certain grandeur and scale, which is lacking in the many contemporary, but more overtly satirical, depictions of beggars.

Object facts

• Title: Two Beggars Fighting
• Date: 1612–16
• Artist attribution: Jacques Bellange French, c. 1575-1616
• Place of origin: France
• Medium: Etching and engraving, with drypoint, in black on off white laid paper
• Dimensions: 32 × 21.8 cm (12 5/8 × 8 5/8 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1957.330

Collection credit

Prints and Drawings Purchase Fund

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.