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Ships in the Port of Livorno. From the "Set of Eight Nautical Landscapes" (Suite de huit Marines) Series

Stefano della Bella

  • Ships in the Port of Livorno. From the "Set of Eight Nautical Landscapes" (Suite de huit Marines) Series
Basic information
ID
Г-IV-900
Author
Stefano della Bella
Name
Ships in the Port of Livorno. From the "Set of Eight Nautical Landscapes" (Suite de huit Marines) Series
Country
France
Technique
etching
Material
paper
Dimensions
7.3 x 17.2 cm (height x width)
Additionally
Type
graphic art
Genre
marine 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
An impression from the third plate of the aforementioned series. The foreground and middle ground depict a bustling harbour, where large sailing vessels are either undergoing repairs or moored for unloading. On the right, the massive hull of a large ship with bare masts and furled rigging is drawn in detail. In the centre, a vessel covered with a canopy is presented, surrounded by the concentrated labour of dockworkers and sailors.
In the centre of the composition, in the background, rises a defensive round tower. It serves as an analogy to an architectural structure in the Tuscan port city of Livorno, which frequently served as a source of study from life for the artist's prints. Behind the tower on the left, the silhouettes of mountains and a calm sea under a cloudy sky are visible. Thanks to fine lines, the artist flawlessly renders the rigging of the ships, the details of the tower, the calm sea, and the expanse of the sky.
Inscriptions
Engraved at the bottom of the sheet on the left: "3 S.D. Bella jn. et fe.". In pencil beneath the impression on the left: "2659". On the left beneath the sheet on the mounting cardboard, there is a sticker with the stamp of the Lviv Historical Museum and the former print number in ink: "Г-4691/45", and above it, the current gallery collection number in pencil: "№ Г-IV-900/ ЛДКГ".
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

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