A girl who cares for chickens - Simon Guillain

A seventeenth-century etching by Simon Guillain, reproducing a study by Annibale Carracci of a young woman tending to chickens.

This etching, identified as plate 78, originates from a series of prints by the French sculptor and printmaker Simon Guillain. The work reproduces drawings by Annibale Carracci, specifically those depicting the street life and common trades of Bologna. Guillain, who spent significant time in Italy, produced these plates to document the observational sketches of the Italian master, capturing the everyday activities of the populace with a direct, unadorned approach.

The composition features a young woman leaning against a low stone wall, her attention directed toward the chickens feeding on the ground before her. She is flanked by figures, including a child in a hat observing from the left and others peering over the wall behind her. The scene is rendered with clear, deliberate lines that define the forms of the figures and the texture of the masonry. The cross-hatching used to create shadow and depth on the wall contrasts with the lighter, more open linework of the figures, providing a sense of volume without excessive detail.

Guillain’s technique reflects the printmaking standards of the mid-seventeenth century, where the primary objective was the faithful translation of the original drawing into a reproducible medium. The inclusion of a basket in the foreground and the casual posture of the central figure contribute to the narrative quality of the piece, offering a glimpse into the social observations that preoccupied artists of the period. This print serves as a record of the collaborative relationship between the draughtsman and the engraver, preserving the character of the original study for a wider audience. The work is a fine example of how seventeenth-century print culture functioned to disseminate artistic styles and subject matter across Europe, maintaining a focus on the human element of daily life.