A valet taking two horses to bathe, sitting atop one horse in a river, the other beside him to right
ca. 1662
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 1/16 x 4 15/16 in. (7.7 x 12.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.814
Tags
Art Historical Context
In this delicate etching from around 1662, Italian Stefano della Bella captures a serene riverside moment: a valet atop one horse as he it—and a companion steed beside him—into the water for a bath. Titled *A Valet Taking Two Horses tohe*, the small-scale print (just 3 1/16 x 4 15/16 inches) exemplifies della Bella's mastery of everyday scenes, blending the grandeur of Baroque naturalism with intimate human-animal interactions. Della Bella, a prolific 17th-century etcher trained in Florence and influenced by Jacques Callot and Rembrandt, excelled in intricate line work that animates motion an...
About the Artist
Stefano della Bella · 1610–1664
Stefano della Bella (1610-1664) was one of the most prolific and versatile printmakers of the Italian Baroque period, leaving behind 1,052 prints and several thousand drawings that captured the vivid essence of 17th-century European life. Born in Florence on May 18, 1610, to a family of artists, he trained initially as a goldsmith before studying painting under Cesare Dandini and etching under Rem...