Stefano della Bella (17 May 1610 – 12 July 1664) was an Italian draughtsman and

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...

known for

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

s 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. He was born and died in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Early life in Florence

Della Bella was born at

to a family of artists, and was apprenticed to a

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

,Chishholm 1911. but became an engraver working briefly under Orazio Vanni and then

Cesare Dandini Cesare Dandini (1 October 1596– 7 February 1657) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in his native city of Florence. Biography He was the older brother of the painter Vincenzo Dandini (1609–1675). His nephew, P ...

.Massar 1996. He studied etching under Remigio Cantagallina, who had also been the instructor of

Jacques Callot Jacques Callot (; – 1635) was a baroque printmaker and draftsman from the Duchy of Lorraine (an independent state on the north-eastern border of France, southwestern border of Germany and overlapping the southern Netherlands). He is an impor ...

.Massar 1968, p. 160. Della Bella's early prints are very similar to those of Callot. When he was seventeen years of age, he presented an etching depicting a banquet in the

Palazzo Pitti The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

to the young

Giancarlo de' Medici Giancarlo de' Medici (24 July 1611 – 22 January 1663) was an Italian cardinal of the House of Medici. He was the second son of Grand Duke Cosimo II of Tuscany and his wife, Maria Maddalena of Austria, and the brother of Ferdinando II de' Med ...

following which della Bella would receive official commissions by the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mu ...

family. In 1630, at the age of twenty, he produced a manuscript copy from one of the many manuscript versions of

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on ...

's '' Trattato della Pittura''. He illustrated his copy with about 50 sketches. Della Bella's copy was published in 1792 with "accurate engravings of all of his sketches." By 1632 or 1633 he was the recipient of direct patronage from Lorenzo de Medici (brother to

Cosimo II Cosimo II de' Medici (12 May 1590 – 28 February 1621) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1609 until his death. He was the elder son of Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Christina of Lorraine. For the majority of his twelve-ye ...

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

Work in Rome

Having arrived in Rome in 1633, della Bella lived and studied there for six years. He resided in the Medici Palace, producing ''

vedute A ''veduta'' (Italian for "view"; plural ''vedute'') is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or, more often, print of a cityscape or some other vista. The painters of ''vedute'' are referred to as ''vedutisti''. Origins This genr ...

'' and drawings of antiquities as well as crowded images of public occasions in a series of sketchbooks. Many of these images were later turned into prints. He also recorded and assisted the court festivities of the Medici. In this period della Bella's style developed from

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ita ...

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

. 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. While living in Rome, he often returned to Florence working on commissions for his clients there. File:Entrance of the Polish Legation into Rome, etching by Stefano della Bella - Met Museum of Art 1971 (adjusted).jpg, ''Entry of the Polish Ambassador to Rome'', 1633 Polish horseman Della Bella.jpg, ''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 Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...

and other Dutch print makers. Della Bella made trips to Holland and North Africa. 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

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

sent him to

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of ...

to make drawings for prints of the siege and taking of that town by the royal army, and in 1644

Cardinal Mazarin Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...

commissioned four sets of educational playing cards for the young

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

. His

ornament print In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most orna ...

s were very innovative, seeming to look forward to the

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

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

Pont Neuf The Pont Neuf (, "New Bridge") is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. It stands by the western (downstream) point of the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the river that was, between 250 and 225 BC ...

, looking south from the entrance of the Place Dauphine, with topographically accurate depictions of the buildings south of the bridge on the banks of the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/ Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributa ...

, such as the

Church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois The Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois is a Roman Catholic church in the First Arrondissement of Paris, situated at 2 Place du Louvre, directly across from the Louvre Palace. It was named for Germanus of Auxerre, the Bishop of Auxerre (378-4 ...

, the Petit Bourbon and the

Louvre Palace The Louvre Palace (french: link=no, Palais du Louvre, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and t ...

on the

right bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrai ...

and the Hôtel de Nevers, the Tour de Nesle, and in the distance, the

Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conc ...

, on the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album '' Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * ...

. The road over the bridge and in front of the central platform with the statue of

Henri IV Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

is crowded with carriages, wagons, people, and animals. Among the 451 distinct figures are beggars, gypsies,

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vi ...

players, children and tooth-pullers, with horses, donkeys, dogs, and even a lamb. File:La perspective du Pont neuf de Paris, engraving by Stefano della Bella - Gallica 2011 (adjusted).jpg, View of the

, 1646 File:La perspective du Pont neuf de Paris, engraving by Stefano della Bella - Gallica 2011 (detail).jpg, Detail with figures French anti-Italian feeling during the

Fronde The Fronde () was a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition of the princes, the nobility, the law cour ...

, 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. He continued to send plates to Paris publishers. Della Bella is known to have illustrated some discoveries for Galileo, and depicted

Hansken __NOTOC__ Hansken (1630 – Florence, 9 November 1655) was a female elephant that became famous in early 17th-century Europe. She toured many countries, demonstrating circus tricks, and influenced many artists including Stefano della Bella, ...

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.Reed 1989, p. 242; Massar 1996. 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

Bibliography

* * De Vesme, Alexandre (1906)
"Étienne Della Bella", pp. 66–79
an
"Oeuvre d'Étienne Della Bella", pp. 79–332"
in ''Le Peintre-Graveur italien'' (at Internet Archive). Milan: Ulrico Hoepli. * Massar, Phyllis Dearborn (1968). "Presenting Stefano della Bella."'' The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin'', vol. 27 (New Series), no. 3 (November, 1968), pp. 159–176. . . * Massar, Phyllis D. (1971). ''Stefano Della Bella, Catalogue Raisonné. Alexandre De Vesme with Introduction and Additions by Phyllis Dearborn Massar''. New York: Collectors Editions. * Massar, Phyllis D. (1996). "Bella, Stefano della", vol. 3, pp. 631–634, in ''

The Dictionary of Art ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press ...

'' (34 vols.), edited by Jane Turner. New York: Grove. . Also at

Oxford Art Online Oxford Art Online is an Oxford University Press online gateway into art research, which was launched in 2008. It provides access to several online art reference works, including Grove Art Online (originally published in 1996 in a print version, ''T ...

subscription required
(accessed 22 November 2010). *Reed, Sue Welsh & Wallace, Richard, editors (1989). ''Italian Etchers of the Renaissance and Baroque'', Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. or 304-4 (pb)

External links

Works by Stefano della Bella at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaStefano della Bella Etchings
, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession No. P830003. The collection includes four suites of etchings by Stefano della Bella, comprising 35 prints. Primarily decorative, they depict genre scenes of people and animals (in rural settings), fantastic vases, panels of grotesques, and the Medici Villa Demidoff and its gardens near Florence. {{DEFAULTSORT:Della Bella, Stefano 1610 births 1664 deaths Italian printmakers Italian draughtsmen Italian engravers Italian war artists Artists from Florence