Black Horseman
c. 1651
Medium
Etching in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 19 × 19 cm (7 1/2 × 7 1/2 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
129388
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Stefano della Bella was a well-known etcher due to his superb detailing and reportorial consistency. Here, a North African light cavalryman draped in leopard skin is armed with bow and javelin. At left stands an unidentified pyramid, while to the right an elephant is hurried along in a caravan. As with the other prints in this series of exotic horsemen, some of the details in this work were probably imagined, added by the artist to render the subject even more dramatic.
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...