Donkeys, plate 24 from "Various Animals" (Diversi Animali)
Medium
Etching; second state of three (De Vesme)
Dimensions
Plate: 3 7/16 × 4 5/16 in. (8.7 × 10.9 cm) Sheet: 3 11/16 × 4 1/2 in. (9.3 × 11.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1917
Accession Number
17.50.17-273
Tags
Art Historical Context
Stefano della Bella’s “Donkeys,” plate 24 from the series *Diversi Animali (Various Animals), offers charming glimpse into seventeenth-century Italian printmaking. Created around 1641, this small etching captures two donkeys in a simple, naturalistic pose, highlighting della Bella’s keen observation of animal life. The Florentine artist, celebrated for his lively and precise etchings, produced the series as part of a larger exploration of the animal kingdom, reflecting the period’s growing interest in natural history and everyday subjects. Printed on a modest plate measuring just over three b...
About the Artist
Stefano della Bella|Pierre Mariette · 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...