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Portrait

Stefano della Bella

Basic information

ID: Г-IV-847
Author: Stefano della Bella
Name: Portrait
Date of creation: 1649–1650
Country: Italy
Technique: etching
Material: paper
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 10 x 7.3

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: portraiture
Plot: Portrait
Provenance: Lviv Historical Museum

Information about author

Author: 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 "Plusieurs têtes Coiffées à la Persienne" ("Several Combed Heads of the Persians") series was printed in two editions in Henriet Israel's publishing house in 1650. The first edition was produced on rectangular plates, while the second was on oval plates in the 1649–1650s. The series was dedicated to Ferdinando II de Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The frontispiece of the series bears the Medici family's coat of arms. The series comprises 12 etchings depicting imaginary portraits of Arabs dressed in exotic clothing. The Lviv works are from the second edition. A young sultana, portrayed in the etching, is shown in the oval. Her head is turned to the left, and her gaze is directed towards the viewer. She is wearing an opulent, bejewelled turban and a fur cape. On this engraving, Stefano della Bella realistically represented the textures of fabrics, fur, and hair of the portrayed woman.

Inscriptions

On the left, there is the inscription: "SDBella"

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

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