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Clovis and Clotilde

Stefano della Bella

Basic information

ID: Г-IV-862
Author: Stefano della Bella
Name: Clovis and Clotilde
Date of creation: c. 1657
Country: Italy
Technique: etching engraving
Material: paper on cardboard
Dimensions: 30.3 x 21.5 cm (height x width)

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: history painting mythological painting
Provenance: Received from the Lviv Historical Museum, 1954

Information about author

Author: Stefano della Bella
Author in the original: Stefano della Bella
Artist's lifetime: 1610–1644
Country: Italy
Biography: Stefano della Bella (Italian: Stefano della Bella; 1610, Florence – 1664, ibid.). A prominent Italian artist, engraver and etcher of the Early Baroque period, Stefano della Bella was one of the most prolific European printmakers of the 17th century. Following the untimely death of his father, the youth began training in a goldsmith's workshop. Around 1623, he moved to the workshop of the engraver Orazio Vanni, where he mastered the basic techniques of printmaking. Later, he refined his etching technique in the workshop of Remigio Cantagallina – the mentor of the famous French master Jacques Callot. Copying Callot's works significantly influenced the formation of della Bella's own refined artistic style.
During this same period, the artist secured the patronage of the Medici family, who supported him throughout his life. In 1633–1639, funded by his primary patron, Prince Lorenzo de' Medici (uncle of Ferdinand de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany), the artist lived and studied in Rome. There, he immediately received major commissions and made numerous sketches of park ensembles, villas, palaces and ancient ruins, which he later incorporated into his engravings.In Rome, della Bella met the French printmakers Israel Henriet and François Langlois, thanks to whom he moved to Paris in 1639. In France, the artist quickly achieved immense popularity, establishing close and successful collaborations with them, as well as with the leading Parisian publisher Pierre Mariette. His etchings were in high demand among European collectors. In 1650, due to anti-Italian unrest in France (the Fronde), the engraver returned to his native Florence. During this late period, he significantly diversified his favourite themes, creating a series of hunting scenes, landscapes with Roman ruins and detailed depictions of horsemen.
Over his lifetime, Stefano della Bella created more than a thousand unique etchings and thousands of drawings. He worked across battle, landscape, animal, ornamental and genre scenes, capturing the events of his time with documentary precision – from the lavish theatrical pageants of the Florentine nobility to the harsh realities of the Thirty Years' War and the everyday street life of European cities. He became famous for his jewelry-fine, filigree-detailed miniature works.

Object description

A rectangular frame features a historical and mythological scene at the centre. It is dedicated to the Frankish King Clovis I and his wife Clotilde – a Burgundian princess. Clovis carried her off to his kingdom despite her father's resistance. Later, it was owing to Clotilde that the King of the Franks converted to Christianity. Depicted in the engraving, Clovis and Clotilde gallop swiftly on horseback under a cloudy sky. They move to the right across a hilly terrain. Clotilde sits on her horse in the traditional female posture – sideways.
Slightly behind them, on the left side, they are accompanied by another rider. The composition is set within an elaborate Baroque cartouche. In its upper part, an oval shield is positioned, supported by two putti. Flanking the sides are lush garlands of flowers and fruit. Below, at the centre of the decorative intertwining of the frame, a mascaron is depicted in the form of a detailed, finely rendered face of a young woman. It is adorned from below with a heavy botanical garland. On both sides of the woman's head are two Baroque cornucopias filled with fruit and flowers. Stefano della Bella was a prominent master of ornament, and such motifs are frequently found throughout his series of cartouches, friezes, and grotesques.

Inscriptions

The author's initials are at the bottom left of the print, near the cornucopia: "SDB (D encompasses the letters on both sides) ella". On the backing cardboard, underneath the sheet on the left, there is a label with a seal of Lviv Historical Museum and a numbered stamp; above it – Lviv National Art Gallery inventory number in pencil: "№ Г-IV-862/ ЛДКГ".

Portrayed person

The name of the person portrayed: Clovis I – Founder of the Kingdom of the Franks.

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Clovis and Clotilde

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