The Sickly Beggar (Le Malingreux)

Scholars stand divided on the question of whether Jacques Callot aimed with these images to incite compassion or to caution beholders against fraudulent beggars. Seventeenth-century writers themselves debated the difficulty of identifying a truly needy beggar from another who was simply posing. Nevertheless, Counter-Reformation Catholic writers urged charity and compassion regardless of a recipient’s perceived virtue or need. Thomas Carr (1599–1674), founder and confessor of the convent of Saint-Augustin, in Paris, remarked that it was better that ten unworthy men be helped than one truly needy one go without. He exhorted readers to perform acts of charity for the sake of the health of their soul.

Callot’s series is noteworthy for the variation of poses, ragged costumes, and sorrowful expressions. Although some of the beggars could be feigning their discomfort, most do not appear to do so. Their wasted bodies and world-weary expressions communicate the sorrows of 17th-century penury.