Dimensions: 18 x 18 cm (clear passe-partout)
Signed on the plate l.d.: 'S.D.Bella inu. & fec.' and described p.d.: 'Cum Piuil. Reais'
Biography
Born in Florence, Stefano della Bella trained as a goldsmith but eventually became an engraver. He went to Rome where, thanks to the patronage of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Lorenzo de Medici, he was able to train for three years. At the age of 32 he moved to Paris where he was engaged by Cardinal Richelieu to illustrate the siege and capture of the city of Arras by the royal army. Upon his return from France, he was hired as a drawing teacher at the House of Medici. The artist left behind more than 1,000 engravings.
Literature
Joanna Talbierska, Stefano della Bella (1610-1664), etchings from the collection of the engraving cabinet of the Warsaw University Library, Warsaw 2001, p.182, p.429, cat. no. IV. 32a/IV (ill.)
