Death on a battlefield, atop a horse riding towards the left, wearing a hat with many feathers, other figures of Death battling to left and right in the background
ca. 1646
Medium
Etching; third state of four
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 7/8 x 11 3/4 in. (22.5 x 29.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.442.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
In this dramatic etching, *Death on a Battlefield*, Stefano della Bella captures a chilling vision of mortality amid chaos. Created around 1646, the central figure is Death itself— a skeletal rider charging leftward on horseback, crowned with a flamboyant feathered hat. Surrounding this grim protagonist, other skeletal warriors clash in frenzied battle, their bony forms evoking the inescapability of death on the field of war. Della Bella, a masterful 17th-century Florentine printmaker known for his intricate battle scenes and grotesque imagery, infuses the composition with dynamic movement and...
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...