Stefano della Bella

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Stefano Della Bella
Engraver
MovementBaroque

Stefano della Bella (17 May 1610

printmaker known for etchings of a great variety of subjects, including military and court scenes, landscapes, and lively genre scenes. He left 1052 prints, and several thousand drawings, but only one known painting.[2] He was born and later died in Florence, Italy
.

Early life in Florence

Della Bella was born at

Cosimo II and uncle to Giancarlo de' Medici).[7] At this time Della Bella requested from his patron permission to go to Rome "to perfect himself as an artist."[5]

Work in Rome

Having arrived in Rome in 1633,

Mannerist to Baroque.[8] Della Bella created a series of six prints forming a long, 2.5-meter panel, showing the Polish Ambassador’s Ceremonial Entry into Rome in 1633. He also created a number of prints of views of Rome.[4] While living in Rome, he often returned to Florence working on commissions for his clients there.[5]

  • Entry of the Polish Ambassador to Rome, 1633
    Entry of the Polish Ambassador to Rome, 1633
  • Polish horseman etching
    Polish horseman etching

Paris and the return to Florence

In 1639, della Bella went to Paris and lived there until 1650. He adapted his style to French tastes, and was influenced by Rembrandt and other Dutch print makers. Della Bella made trips to Holland and North Africa.[9]

The majority of della Bella's prints date from the years in Paris; he had arrived four years after the death of Callot, and was already known to important French publishers. In 1641

ornament prints were very innovative, seeming to look forward to the Rococo.[4]

Della Bella also engraved views of Paris, including a very large print of the

Henri IV is crowded with carriages, wagons, people, and animals. Among the 451 distinct figures are beggars, gypsies, hurdy-gurdy players, children and tooth-pullers, with horses, donkeys, dogs, and even a lamb.[4]

French anti-Italian feeling during the

Fronde, and the death of Mazarin probably forced della Bella's return to Florence, where he obtained a pension from the grand duke, whose son, Cosimo III de' Medici, he instructed in drawing.[3] He continued to send plates to Paris publishers. Della Bella is known to have illustrated some discoveries for Galileo, and depicted Hansken the famous elephant, when dead. In his final years he produced a number of prints experimenting with tonal effects, though these were little known at the time; he had long made much use of wash in his drawings, and was now attempting with considerable success to achieve similar effects in etching, though only a few good impressions could be taken from the plate.[10]
In 1661 he appears to have suffered a stroke, after which he produced little work.

Antonio Francesco Lucini
was one of his pupils in Florence.

Notes

  1. ^ Massar 1996. De Vesme 1906, p. 68, states he was baptised on 18 March and born the same day.
  2. ^ Reed 1989, 234; Massar 1996.
  3. ^ a b c d Chishholm 1911.
  4. ^ a b c d Massar 1996.
  5. ^ a b c d e Massar 1968, p. 160.
  6. ^ Massar 1971, p. 4.
  7. ^ Massar 1971, p. 5.
  8. ^ Massar 1996; Reed 1989, pp. 234–236.
  9. ^ Reed 1989, p. 234.
  10. ^ Reed 1989, p. 242; Massar 1996.

Bibliography

External links

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