Allegory of Europe, from "Jeu de la Géographie"
Medium
Etching, state iii
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of the Estate of James Hazen Hyde, 1959
Accession Number
59.654.19(1)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold the *Allegory of Europe*, captivating etching from the 1644 series *Jeu de la Géographie now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department. Crafted by Italian master printmaker Stefano della Bella, contributions from poet Jean Desmarets de-Sorlin, publisher Le Gras, and the young Louis XIV of France, this work (state iii) exemplifies the collaborative artistry of mid-17th-century France. Gifted to the Met in 1959 from the Estate of James Hazen Hyde it invites visitors into an era of royal patronage and exploratory zeal. In this Baroque allegory, Europe perso...
About the Artist
Stefano della Bella|Jean Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin|Henri Le Gras|Louis XIV, King of France · 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...