Petite Vue de Paris (or "Le Marché d'esclaves"), second state

Erroneously called “The Slave Market,” the first state of this print was meant to depict the liberation and reunion of captured Christians with their families at a Mediterranean port. The figures in the foreground bear out this interpretation, but the insertion of the Paris skyline in the second state has contributed to confusion over the original subject of the print. Callot did visit Paris in 1629, but it is unlikely that he was the one to add the view of the city. Upon Callot’s death, some of his unfinished plates went to his compatriot and friend Henriet, who had published Callot’s work during his lifetime. It was probably Henriet, or another artist working for Henriet, who completed the composition by adding the background—and thus changing the meaning—so that the plate could be published