Stefano Della Bella (1610-1664) - Cavalli che corrono liberi

State: Excellent impression, good condition with slight traces of foxing and browning;
Support: Ragged paper, small adhesive patches on the back, as shown in the photo;
Shipping: INSURED shipment via Bartolini/DPD courier. To benefit from the insurance coverage, any damage to the neck must be contested and reported to the courier at the time of delivery. Otherwise, it will not be possible to activate the insurance reimbursement procedure.
Provenance: From a private collection;

Stefano Della Bella (Florence, May 18, 1610 – Florence, July 12, 1664) was an Italian engraver.

Born into a family of painters, sculptors and goldsmiths and left an orphan early of his sculptor father, he initially devoted himself to goldsmithing at the school of Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione and Gasparo Mola, then directing his attention to drawing and engraving. He soon began to draw figures and to copy the etchings of Jacques Callot, which inspired his youthful works.

Under the protection of the Medici, particularly Don Lorenzo, younger son of Grand Duke Ferdinando I, Della Bella had the opportunity to undertake study trips to Rome, where he stayed from 1633 to ’36; in Rome he met French engravers and print publishers such as Israël Henriet and François Langlois, who greatly influenced his decision to move to Paris in 1639, four years after Callot’s death.

In Paris he quickly achieved worldly success thanks to engravings commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu; he mingles with courtiers, theater artists and scholars, while resisting honors that are too oppressive. It is the era of the Thirty Years’ War, about which he documents some episodes, such as the Siege of Arras.

Between 1644 and 1645 he undertakes a sea voyage along the Tyrrhenian and Ionian coasts to Egypt, and witnesses the naval clash between the galleys of the Order of Malta and the Turkish fleet before Rhodes on September 28, 1644.

In 1646-47 he goes to the Netherlands, setting sail from Calais, which he depicts in some of his sheets; he stays in Amsterdam, Antwerp and Dordrecht. It is hypothesized a meeting, though not documented, with Rembrandt, of whom Stefano della Bella owned several engravings.

His love of nature is evident in fresh vignettes: animal engravings, landscapes reveal a lively, imaginative style, now autonomous from Callot’s inspiration. The human figure is also studied; new themes flourish: topographic maps, caprices, i.e., scenes of character, decoration (friezes and ornaments), military subjects.

Returning to Florence in 1650, he resumes work under the protection of the Medici court, working for his patrons; he executes title pages, illustrations of festivities and views that exalt Medici splendor. In 1656 he became a member of the Academy of the Apatists. He travels to Rome several times, where some views of ancient ruins are born; at the same time he continues to send engraved plates and sheets to his Parisian publishers.

Stefano Della Bella left us over a thousand engravings.