Stefano Della Bella (1610-1664) - Il viaggio di Giacobbe in Egitto

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_X-5-1
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/397407
https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/HistoricOrArtisticProperty/0500260577

Type: Etching, refined with burin;
State: Excellent intaglio, good conservation state with slight traces of foxing and browning. The paper shows a light and natural patina of age, minimal margins with clearly visible plate marks, all as in the photos;
Support: Hand-made paper with clearly distinguishable laid lines and watermark clearly visible when held to light;

Shipping: INSURED shipment via Bartolini/DPD courier. To benefit from the insurance coverage, any damage to the neck should 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: Private collection provenance;

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

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

Under the protection of the Medici, particularly Don Lorenzo, the younger son of the Grand Duke Ferdinand 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 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 mingled with courtiers, theatre artists and literary figures, although he refused overly oppressive honors. It is the era of the Thirty Years’ War, of 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 he 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 travels to the Netherlands boarding at Calais, which he depicts in some of his sheets; he stops in Amsterdam, Antwerp and Dordrecht. It is hypothesized a meeting, not documented, with Rembrandt, of whom Stefano della Bella owned several engravings.

His love for nature is evident in fresh vignettes: animal engravings, landscapes reveal a lively and fanciful style, now autonomous from his inspiration Callot. Human figures are studied as well; new themes flourish: topographic maps, capriccios, i.e., scenes of character, decoration (friezes and ornaments), and 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, festival illustrations and views that exalt Medicean splendor. In 1656 he becomes a member of the Academy of the Apatists. He makes several trips to Rome, where some views of ancient ruins originate; at the same time he continues to send etched plates and sheets to his Parisian editors.

Stefano Della Bella left behind over a thousand engravings.