Stefano Della Bella

1610–1664

Stefano della Bella (1610–1664) was an Italian printmaker and draughtsman born in Florence, Italy. He was known for producing vast numbers of prints of various subjects, including landscapes, genre scenes, and military and court scenes. He received commissions from several notable patrons, including the Medici family, Cardinal Richelieu, and Louis XIV. When he died, he left behind a collection of 1,052 prints, thousands of drawings, and a single painting.

As a youth in Florence, Della Bella originally apprenticed as a goldsmith, but later discovered he had a talent for engraving. At seventeen, he presented an etching to Giancarlo de’ Medici and from then on received official commissions from the Medici family. This grew to receiving direct patronage from Lorenzo de’ Medici by the early 1630s. This led to della Bella moving to Rome in 1633, where he studied for six years, living in the Medici Palace.

During the 1630s, he developed his style from Mannerist to Baroque and produced many drawings of antiquities and crowded court scenes involving the Medici family—many of which he later adapted into prints.

By 1639, della Bella moved to Paris and lived there for over a decade. He travelled regularly, and was influenced by French, Dutch, and North African styles as a result of his travels. He produced the majority of his prints during this time, including commissions from Cardinal Richelieu to depict the siege of Arras in 1641 and from Cardinal Mazarin for educational playing cards for the young Louis XIV in 1644.

In 1650, anti-Italian sentiments in France, in the midst of civil war, likely caused della Bella to return to Florence. There, he obtained a pension and continued working for clients in Italy, as well as Paris publishers and clients elsewhere.

Much of della Bella’s work was considered innovative, including his use of ornamentation which seemed to anticipate the popular forthcoming Rococo style. As well, in his final years as a practicing artist, he experimented with tonal effects and other novel techniques with etching, though experienced little success before the end of his career. This came when he suffered a stroke in 1661 and was unable to produce art for the last three years of his life.

Della Bella’s work is now held in collections around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City; the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; the British Museum, London, England; the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand; Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery, Lviv, Ukraine; the Louvre, Paris, France; and the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

Artworks

Stefano Della Bella
(1610)
(1664)
Stefano Della Bella
(1610)
(1664)
Stefano Della Bella
(1610)
(1664)
Stefano Della Bella
(1610)
(1664)