Back

Ruins of the Baths of Diocletian with a Sleeping Shepherd. From the "Round Landscapes" or "Roman Landscapes and Ruins" Series, Plate 12

Stefano della Bella

Basic information

ID: Г-IV-924
Author: Stefano della Bella
Name: Ruins of the Baths of Diocletian with a Sleeping Shepherd. From the "Round Landscapes" or "Roman Landscapes and Ruins" Series, Plate 12
Country: France
Technique: etching
Material: paper
Dimensions: 13.5 x 13.5 cm (height x width)

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: architectural landscape animal 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

The work comes from the "Round Landscapes" series, created by the artist in Paris around 1646. The series consists of 13 prints. In many catalogued descriptions, the work appears as a piece from the "Roman Landscapes and Ruins" ("Paysages et ruines de Rome") series, plate 12. The publisher of this series of prints was François Langlois (1589–1647), known as Ciartres or Chartres. He is considered the first prominent publisher of the French Baroque era.
The print has the shape of a tondo – an experimental format characteristic of della Bella.
In the foreground, a horse is depicted in detail, standing and turned in profile to the left. Nearby, other horses are resting. On the right, a shepherd covered with a cloak is sleeping on the ground. In the middle ground, the half-ruined majestic arches of the ancient Baths of the Emperor Diocletian in Rome are depicted. These enormous baths were built at the beginning of the 4th century AD and were completely reduced to ruins at the end of the 16th century. In the print, the space around the ancient walls is inhabited by ordinary people. Small figures of townspeople and drovers are depicted pasturing livestock right among the ruins of the once grand architectural complex. The upper half of the composition is occupied by the sky, executed in fine parallel horizontal hatched lines that convey soft, diffused light.
This work is a classic example of the capriccio genre and pastoral landscape. Stefano della Bella combines two cardinally different aesthetics here: the documentarily accurate reproduction of ancient Roman architecture and the fictional, idyllic everyday life of ordinary Romans.

Inscriptions

At the bottom of the print on the left: "Stef. Della Bella inuent. fecit.", on the right: "F. L. D. Ciartres excud Сum Priuil. Regis Chrіst." – [François Langlois, known as Ciartres, published with Royal privilege]. Top right on the sheet: "12". In pencil at the bottom left: "2587". On the mounting cardboard on the left under the sheet, there is a sticker with the stamp of Lviv Historical Museum funds and the former inventory number of the engraving in ink: "Г-4690/53", above it in pencil, the current gallery collection number: "№ Г-IV-924/ ЛДКГ". Pencil marks on the mounting cardboard: on the left near the bottom corner of the engraving sheet – "99", on the right – "56".

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Ruins of the Baths of Diocletian with a Sleeping Shepherd. From the "Round Landscapes" or "Roman Landscapes and Ruins" Series, Plate 12

Other